Sin vecinos no hay destino
Cartagena vive un momento crucial. El Centro Histórico, orgullo de la ciudad y vitrina ante el mundo, se ha convertido en escenario de un turismo que crece sin pausa; pero mientras las terrazas se llenan y las plazas vibran, algo esencial se está apagando: la vida cotidiana de los barrios. Getsemaní es el ejemplo más claro, pero no el único. Cada año, menos vecinos logran permanecer. Cada año la ciudad corre el riesgo de volverse un lugar hermoso... y vacío.
TL;DR
- Tourism growth in Cartagena's historic center is displacing residents, leading to a loss of daily life in neighborhoods like Getsemaní.
- The habitability of neighborhoods is essential for Cartagena to remain a competitive, authentic, and sustainable tourist destination.
- International examples like Venice, Barcelona, and Lisbon show that excessive tourism can destroy the very attractions it seeks.
- The tourism and hospitality sector in Cartagena has a responsibility to ensure the permanence of residents in the historic center.
- A neighborhood with residents generates trust, security, and living culture, while one without generates noise and tension.
- The article calls for contained tourism that understands the social cost of practices like mobile nightclubs and saturated plazas.
- The 'Vida de Barrio' program in Getsemaní offers a model for recovering residential vocations and balancing uses, but requires business commitment.
- Protecting habitability strengthens businesses by fostering trust, authenticity, and local economic integration, rather than weakening them.
- The choice is between a tourism model that rapidly extracts value until the destination is depleted, or one that values living culture and diverse people.
- The core message is that without residents, there is no destination; protecting habitability safeguards the neighborhood, the city, businesses, and the future.