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| Happy days in the capital of Latin America UK | Happy days in the capital of Latin America UK |
| (7 months later) | |
| Has anything of note happened at the Elephant and Castle in south London since the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, in the 1990s? Of course, says Gladys Medina, a Bolivian advice worker who works nearby. We take a tour. Of the Columbian-owned hairdresser. The Columbian-owned food shop. The Ecuadorian clothes shop. Of La Bodeguita, the cafe and restaurant that serves as a community hub. She shows me the Peruvian and Bolivian shops tucked away within the railway arches. The glass-walled store where the salsa plays and the sign reveals the clientele: Ecuadorian, Bolivian, Brazilian, Colombian, Paraguayan, Peruvian, Venezuelan. "That's Tiendas Del Sur," she says pointing at a row of shops across the roundabout – Shops of the South. "Famous for shopping; food, clothes all sorts of things." Elephant and Castle, subterranean capital of Latin America UK. | Has anything of note happened at the Elephant and Castle in south London since the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, in the 1990s? Of course, says Gladys Medina, a Bolivian advice worker who works nearby. We take a tour. Of the Columbian-owned hairdresser. The Columbian-owned food shop. The Ecuadorian clothes shop. Of La Bodeguita, the cafe and restaurant that serves as a community hub. She shows me the Peruvian and Bolivian shops tucked away within the railway arches. The glass-walled store where the salsa plays and the sign reveals the clientele: Ecuadorian, Bolivian, Brazilian, Colombian, Paraguayan, Peruvian, Venezuelan. "That's Tiendas Del Sur," she says pointing at a row of shops across the roundabout – Shops of the South. "Famous for shopping; food, clothes all sorts of things." Elephant and Castle, subterranean capital of Latin America UK. |
| It's a good news tour. You might not think much of it, but progress is relative. Southwark council is believed to be the first to formally classify its Latin American residents as Latin American. No further need to tick the hated box marked "other". "It's a huge step," enthuses Gladys. "It means we are included. It will be the first stop towards the wholesale integration of our community into this society." You can't integrate if you can't participate, she says. "I work in an advice centre and there are so many issues: immigration, housing, welfare and employment. But no one can do anything unless they have the numbers." | It's a good news tour. You might not think much of it, but progress is relative. Southwark council is believed to be the first to formally classify its Latin American residents as Latin American. No further need to tick the hated box marked "other". "It's a huge step," enthuses Gladys. "It means we are included. It will be the first stop towards the wholesale integration of our community into this society." You can't integrate if you can't participate, she says. "I work in an advice centre and there are so many issues: immigration, housing, welfare and employment. But no one can do anything unless they have the numbers." |
| Aren't you're lumping together a lot of different people from a lot of different cultures? We did have to address that, she says. "But we have a common history and we speak the same languages: Spanish and Portuguese. People understood that it was very important to have a common category." | Aren't you're lumping together a lot of different people from a lot of different cultures? We did have to address that, she says. "But we have a common history and we speak the same languages: Spanish and Portuguese. People understood that it was very important to have a common category." |
| So what next for the Latin American Recognition Campaign? A campaign in the next borough, Lambeth. Then the Greater London Authority, reflecting the estimate of 113,000 Latin Americans in London. Then to the Office for National Statistics. Southwark's just the start. It was always likely to be the first, Medina says. | So what next for the Latin American Recognition Campaign? A campaign in the next borough, Lambeth. Then the Greater London Authority, reflecting the estimate of 113,000 Latin Americans in London. Then to the Office for National Statistics. Southwark's just the start. It was always likely to be the first, Medina says. |
| Lucy, the Colombian hairdresser, agrees. "This guy went to the embassy to get a six-month visa," says Lucy. "The official said make sure you come back in six months or we'll find you. We'll head for Elephant and Castle." | Lucy, the Colombian hairdresser, agrees. "This guy went to the embassy to get a six-month visa," says Lucy. "The official said make sure you come back in six months or we'll find you. We'll head for Elephant and Castle." |
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