The good thing about this city (Madrid) is that we can all talk about everything even if we think differently and nothing happens. It doesn't matter what country, city, religion or political option you are from. We are all equal.

In my house we were always taught to respect. We were six siblings, plus my mother and father, in a fifty-square-meter apartment. We live very happy. On birthdays and Christmas, grandparents and some uncles and cousins joined us... we almost couldn't fit in the house. We were so happy."

Alberto Domarco.

#gendemadrid

"I arrived in Madrid at the age of 17 from Bilbao and Bilbao had arrived two years earlier from Extremadura.

I started working in this store as an apprentice, but I already knew some butchery because I had learned before, so shortly after I moved on to the meat part. Before I turned 19 I had already bought the store from my boss, who was retiring.

Today, almost fifty years later, I am the one who retires and I look back and see a lifetime of work, clients and friends.

The entire neighborhood and five decades of history have passed through here...I think about it and it seems incredible to me, because I still see myself as that kid who walked through that door to ask for a job and found a family.

Now it's time to close this chapter. The store has already been sold and although I admit that I am leaving with a little sadness...as my wife and children tell me; "It's time to rest and enjoy life from another place."

#gendemadrid

Fortunato arrived in Madrid from a town in Soria in 1934, at the outbreak of the Civil War.

He opened a china shop, which sold all kinds of items, household items and repairs. Shortly after, a fruit shop joined that store located in the Lavapiés neighborhood.

Eventually, those businesses were resold or rented.

The Casa Soria electrical store is the business that is still standing today, heir to that china shop. It is located on Olivar Street, with Fortunato's grandson - Carlos - as manager.

Carlos has been working since he was fourteen, he is forty and has never left the store. He likes serving the public and taking care of business. Although he studied Psychology, he did not want to practice but to stay with the family business; He is the only one of the brothers who has continued with the store and has seen how the neighborhood has been transformed. He feels that Lavapiés is now at a key moment.

Many local businesses (leather tanners, grocery stores, hardware stores...) have been closing; There are only a few traditional businesses like Casa Soria, and the trade is also being lost.

However, Carlos does not seem to be scared: "we continue doing what we have always done: serving people well, being cheap and keeping long-time customers."

Carlos tells me what the critical moments were in the life of the business. He especially remembers the energy crisis, with the Yom Kippur War, in '73. The enormous rise in the price of oil affected economic liquidity, credits were not granted and, at that time, they had launched a line of household appliances. As credit payments were restricted, this line was affected and they had to cancel the sale of appliances.

It is surprising how global problems can have a definitive impact on the life of a store in a small neighborhood in Madrid. Unlike what happens in large stores, this electricity store maintains the structure of the "old-fashioned stores." ". One enters and comes face to face with the clerks, placed behind the counter and the only ones authorized to remove objects from the boxes stacked on shelves. The customer is not encouraged to take what they want, but rather to ask, to ask for what they need to be served and guided by the clerk. Taking into account that electrical objects are usually quite specific, I ask Carlos if he has to train employees and what criteria he chooses when hiring them. He tells me that the most important thing is trust, being able to trust that they are not going to cheat with the accounts and that they are known or recommended.

Currently, a couple who arrived from Ecuador a while ago, recommended by an acquaintance, run their business.

Casa Soria is in its third generation, having passed from grandfather Fortunato to grandson Carlos and, at the moment, Carlos's daughter does not seem interested in continuing with the business.

Like many small businesses in the area, the business continues to be supported by customer loyalty and is adapting to changes in the neighborhood and the economic situation.

When I ask him about the future, Carlos shrugs his shoulders and smiles "I still have many years left here, the formula is simple: work and continue serving as always. We'll see what happens."

#gendemadrid