The one where we felt at home
Lilac Route in Alicante, 03/06 - 06/06
Buenas from very sunny Alicante!
On Wednesday evening, after one of our shortest travel stints yet, we arrived in Alicante. A quick bus ride brought us to the city centre where we met Enri and Aimar from AEGEE-Alicante, who would be hosting us for the next three nights. When we entered their apartment we quickly discovered the jaw-dropping news that we would each have our own bedroom; something we had never imagined even in our wildest Europe on Track dreams. Already, our stay in Alicante was off to a very good start.
After settling in we made (or, Mercadona made) tortillas de patatas and salads for dinner. Tortilla de patatas, made with eggs and potatoes, is a classic and delicious Spanish dish. It seems that our tastebuds were constantly adapting to the new cuisines in which we found ourselves. Over dinner, we got to know our hosts some more. Primarily, we were all very impressed to learn that Enri was set to play the leading role of Sophie in a stage production of ‘Mamma Mia’. We also learned that both Ewa and Aimar had been at Coldplay’s concert in Warsaw in 2022. While Aimar was in the audience, Ewa was working at the stadium. Indeed our Europe on Track journey is consistently proving that the world (or Europe, at least) is not so big after all. Once we finished our meal, everyone went to bed, and though it was nice to finally have our own rooms, it felt weird not to have late night chats before turning off the lights. Having spent every second of our days together for two weeks, time apart felt unnatural.
The next morning, after a peaceful yet lonely night, Ewa and I went to grab coffee. While at the café, Ewa talked with the staff about her project; Mutual Matter, which is a pan-European socio-environmental zine. While the staff agreed to share some copies of Mutual Matter at the café, we also explained our Europe on Track journey to them. They were genuinely interested in the work we’re doing, and it felt really special to engage with young people about climate, beyond the scope of our workshops and interviews.
We soon took the bus to the Universidad de Alicante (University of Alicante) where we conducted some interviews with the students. We spoke with students from the local area, as well as with exchange students from Wisconsin, USA. In general, when asked about the climate crisis, all of our interviewees described feelings of worry. Many of the students explained how they felt that Alicante’s city council doesn’t take enough action to ensure environmental protection in the city. In the same way, the students from Wisconsin expressed similar sentiments towards the lack of environmental protection enforced by authorities in the US. No matter if you’re from Alicante, or from Wisconsin, it became clear to us that eco-anxiety is felt worldwide.
While Aimar had to study for his thesis defense which was to take place the following morning, Enri was still at work. Therefore, we took it upon ourselves to do some exploring. As Ewa headed to the Contemporary Art Museum of Alicante, Dimitris and I went to the Museo Arqueológico de Alicante (Alicante Archaeological Museum). Though Dimitris couldn’t help but to constantly remind me of the archaeological prowess of his home country, Greece, we nonetheless enjoyed spending time together at the museum. Then, we hiked up to Castillo de Santa Bárbara which was certainly not easy in the middle of the hot day. But, thankfully, we didn’t get sunburnt and the views were well worth the physical exertion. When we reunited with Ewa, ice cream was on the agenda and, unlike in Tenerife, this time I was extra cautious so that it didn’t fall out of my cone. Mission ice cream stays in cone: success. Eventually, we rounded off the day with a relaxing nighttime swim. It would seem that this was quite possibly the most touristic day of the entire route so far…
On Friday morning, Aimar brought us for a group breakfast, with coffee and juices galore. A good breakfast and good chats set us up for a good day; Aimar was ready to ace his thesis defense and we were ready to ace our workshops – or so we thought… Unfortunately, due to the fact that it was exam season at the Universidad de Alicante, we didn’t have enough participants for our workshops and, sadly, had to cancel them. Instead of letting the lack of participants get us down, we decided to use this time to do more interviews, and even to interview Aimar.
In Aimar’s interview, he and Dimitris discussed extreme weather conditions. Aimar described his experience of hurricanes in his hometown of Almería, whilst also highlighting the 2024 floods that devastated communities throughout Valencia, Castilla-La Mancha, and Andalusia. Indeed, Aimar understood these extreme weather events to be directly related to climate change. Even though we didn’t get the chance to conduct our workshops, interviewing the locals was a strong enough indication of the negative effects climate change is having in Alicante, and in Spain at large.
Soon after, we headed back to the accommodation to eat lunch and to catch up on some tasks. In the evening, Dimitris met with a friend, while Ewa went to Castillo de Santa Bárbara, and I went to a café. We later met back up, and did some socialising with our wonderful hosts. Between working, finishing degrees (in Aimar’s case), and rehearsing for musicals (in Enri’s case), it’s safe to say that our Alicante hosts are very busy people. Nonetheless, they made us feel very welcomed, and honestly, Alicante was the most homelike stop of our trip so far. That’s why we found it hard to say goodbye on Saturday morning. Without doubt, these goodbyes were not getting any easier.
As we sat on the train to Valladolid, I looked out at the passing greenery, wondering what our next stop would add to the jigsaw puzzle of climate justice we were slowly piecing together.
Written by: Sheenagh Rowland
(and the Lilac team)