In the Fahrenheit 451 bookstore, a landmark in the Carolinas Bajas district, and the nearby cafeteria that has become a symbol of the neighborhood’s shift, three locals gather to share the enduring energy that keeps their community vibrant. What began here has evolved into a beacon of a new neighborhood movement in Alicante, yet the heart of the change remains with the residents themselves. It is a community that builds alternatives through determined local action, standing with its people and refusing to be merely a passive neighborhood under municipal control. They push through challenges and the visible decline of the area to revive one of the city’s most neglected corners.
Rain drenches the streets of Alicante as the afternoon unfolds. A small table, a stretcher, and hot coffee set the scene for a candid conversation about a neighborhood that can be quarrelsome at times yet is full of life. Books line the shelves, time seems to slow, and people listen, learn, and share without knowing exactly how the story will unfold. Many residents work in the streets to foster innovative social and neighborhood dynamics that resist the city’s inertia, dedicating themselves to waking up the citizenry and rekindling public life.
With genuine warmth and zeal, Sento Oncina, Anne Ponsart, and Fernando Paton describe the entire network of activities that animate this district. They recount numerous initiatives aimed at reclaiming forgotten spaces, revitalizing abandoned properties, and nurturing a sense of coexistence. The work also supports the most vulnerable, weaving together cultural, sporting, leisure, meeting, and celebration activities that stand in defiance of neglect from city councils and political leaders. There are so many ongoing efforts that tracing them all would strain any notebook, and the vitality of the neighborhood often feels underestimated by local authorities and even by some resident groups.
Since 2015, the Carolinas Bajas neighborhood has hosted one of the city’s most impactful social initiatives. An information point anchors social rights and helps dozens of residents who arrive each week with various needs. In the Plaça de Les Palmeretes area, specialists advise, manage, process, and accompany people seeking assistance with issues tied to Valencian Inclusion Income, early retirement benefits, and other municipal social services. Seven professionals connected to this Information Point support around twenty individuals every Wednesday, with peak days seeing up to sixty people. Others line up at dawn to ensure access to social centers, and many receive referrals from municipal social workers directing them to benches and community spaces in the square or even to residents from neighboring towns.
What emerges from conversations with volunteers is that the majority of those seeking help are women navigating unclear futures. One volunteer named Fernando, a veteran social worker who has taught at university level, speaks with emotion about the joy each time a beneficiary finally receives one of the benefits they administer, often after a long wait and meticulous follow-up. The sense of progress is real, even when the path to it is arduous.
On the same day, Sento and Anna detail how they and the neighborhood union have coordinated to reshape the social fabric in recent years. They describe how they halted two displacements of vulnerable residents, standing up to Sareb, a public owner of numerous low-income rental properties, which has not stopped pushing for evictions. Carolinas Bajas has also faced pressure from investors buying homes and buildings to convert them into tourist apartments, a trend that drives rents higher and undermines social housing stock. Yet the neighborhood persists, refusing to surrender to displacement.
Today, the area may lack a single park or formal social facility, but its residents have created social gardens, a popular community center that acts as an incubator for initiatives, and improvised meeting spaces in abandoned parcels used for gatherings, sports events, and communal work. Tree pits are rescued and planted, children play in makeshift playgrounds, and balconies are beautified. The community has established book exchange points, chess tournaments, petanque courts, and a host of other vibrant activities that grow from the Fahrenheit 451 bookstore and its meeting room, which doubles as a library with one of the city’s finest collections—even without any municipal funding. This is what neighborhood vitality looks like when residents take charge.
Neighbors recount the fatigue of dealing with unresponsive town hall offices, dismissive attitudes at Cigarreras, and the slow pace of expensive EDUSI projects. Yet their frustration becomes fuel, and Carolinas Bajas earns a reputation for resilience. The community continues to push back against passivity, proving that a neighborhood can resist complacency when its people refuse to be invisible.