During the tour, Concepción Díaz de Villegas verified how the urban structure of the Ensanche harms the concept of local commerce, which is why the involvement of the Madrid City Council with merchants is necessary to carry out actions that give more visibility to small businesses.
For the Director GeneralThe Ensanche de Vallecas has a commercial offer that is different from that of other neighborhoods in Madrid and even from other neighborhoods in the Villa de Vallecas district itself. The spatial configuration and the type of inhabitants in the neighborhood, very young and with a high level of training, make the commercial configuration also characteristic. When to go from one store to another you have to travel 600 or 700 meters and cross an avenue 70 meters wide, you cannot think of revitalization projects equal to those of the Gran Vía or the Barrio de Salamanca”.
The municipal representative listened to the initiatives and objectives pursued by the association and stressed that “EMCOEN It is promoting commercial revitalization and it is very clear that it has to do so, taking into account the peculiarities of this neighborhood that has a great projection”. Díaz de Villegas claimed to have detected that “in the Ensanche, and thanks to EMCOEN, there is a great capacity to develop entrepreneurial projects and interesting commercial projects, but adapted to the configuration of the neighborhood”. The first steps should be, in his opinion “to instill a sense of belonging among the residents who live in the Ensanche; that they have to feel as their own this area and this business, which will contribute to improving the quality of life in this area. We can't change the configuration, we can adapt”.
Finally, the General Director of Commerce and Entrepreneurship recalled that "the City Council is here to support and facilitate the work of merchants and entrepreneurs; sometimes with specific instruments such as the call for grants to which we hope they compete, but sometimes simply transferring ideas, putting people in contact or trying to create spaces for debate in which an idea like the ones that have emerged here today and that we can put into practice”.
For her part, the president of EMCOEN, Carmen Llopis, highlighted that “The meeting has been tremendously positive and in it the Director has expressed her willingness to help us continue working and fighting to improve the neighborhood and the network of businesses, entrepreneurs and self-employed professionals. Many ideas have emerged that fill us with energy and a greater desire to continue. We have known the structures and mechanisms that the city council can provide us and of which until now no one had informed us".
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