"Alicante was impressive" or the longing for the commercial soul of the centre

Talking about Alicante means mentioning Simago on Alfonso el Sabio; Las Filipinas or Eutimio on the Rambla; Berna, Julio the Madrileño or the Boutique Casino on Calderón Street or La Moderna Escritura or Juguetes Rico on Castaños. Of all these shops, only one last Mohican remains open: the Eutimio stationery shop, which stands firm on López Torregrosa Street, at the connection between the Rambla de Méndez Núñez and Alfonso el Sabio. The rest have long lived only in the memory of those who sought soap at the Azul perfumery or visited the Campoamor market.

Vicente Armengol, president of the Alicante Traders' Collective, appeals to this memory when he speaks with emotion about how the city centre has changed since 1986, the year he began his professional journey.

In those 80s, the streets of the centre were a hive of shops frequented not only by local residents but also by people from across the province. "This city was something impressive and an envy for other provincial capitals. Now we are at a lower point," Armengol states.

For this trader, the 2008 crisis marked a before and after in the economic cycles the sector had known until then. "Some years were good and others not so much, but you could save. Now it's impossible: we just survive," he acknowledges. That year, the housing crisis also took many businesses with it. That first wave of closures was soon joined by other problems, such as the lack of generational replacement, the change in consumption habits after COVID, and the emergence of new digital platforms.

The figures speak for themselves: in just ten years, between 2013 and 2023, the percentage of premises with active economic activity has dropped from 82% to 72.9%. A worrying figure considering that retail is the city's second economic sector and the first in job creation.

In recent years, not only have historic shops disappeared, but bureaucracy, taxes, and rents have also increased. Even so, Armengol remains optimistic and trusts in the local trade's ability to survive:

"The decisions you make influence whether there is a shop below your house to serve you: whether your baker, butcher, watch or shoe shop is there. That is essential for any neighbourhood. It fills the streets with life and provides security. Everyone decides where they want to shop, and it would be good to stop and think and be responsible for what we decide."

Faced with the current situation, small businesses have no choice but to renew or die. Today it is not uncommon to see a neighbourhood greengrocer sharing recipes on social media or a clothing store selling both physically and online. "We have become accustomed to things that a few years ago would have seemed like science fiction, such as artificial intelligence, which is now commonplace," he comments.

Even so, Armengol cannot help but nostalgically recall those bustling streets and avenues of the eighties. "Our shops are part of our identity as Alicante residents. We cannot allow our city to become just another in the global world, without any personality," he insists.

The president of the traders recalls how, in that expanding Alicante, people walked from the neighbourhoods to the centre —and vice versa— to do their shopping. "Now the most common thing is to do it by car, go to a shopping centre on the outskirts and take the opportunity to go to the cinema," he explains.

The belt of large shopping centres has also distanced the province from the capital. "When they come to shop from other municipalities, they stay on the outskirts," he laments.

Traditional commerce also faces the lack of generational replacement. "Before, shops were inherited from parents to children. Now few remain that are third or fourth generation," he points out. Added to this are the high costs of starting a business. Not only because of the personal sacrifice the trade entails but also due to the high rents, which mean that where there was once a bakery, there is now a tourist apartment.

Armengol tirelessly insists that Alicante must continue to be a commercial capital. He believes the formula is invented, but it needs to be put into practice. For the centre's traders, it is essential that infrastructures such as the ADDA public car park are executed, or that the recent pedestrianisation of San Vicente Street is managed sensibly, preventing customers from fleeing to the outskirts due to the inability to park. "Administrations must work to maintain local trade, not just for show, but with real policies," he demands.