Young migrants after the counter: the relief of the market offices comes from the other side of the Atlantic

The counter continues in the same place. Also the knives, the suppliers and the clientele, which has been asking about the skirt, the black pudding and the round for more than half a century. The only thing that has changed is the accent of whoever attends. And little else. Where before Carlos García, 72 -year -old Asturian was, now he attends Estefany Girón, a Colombian of 34. The relay was not abrupt or improvised. It was a transfer made with time, patience and care. «Garcia is an angel,» she says. «He taught us everything without asking for it.» Garcia arrived at Mercado de Maravillas (Bravo Murillo, 122) with 17 years following in the footsteps of his brother. He retires with 72, after 55 years working from Monday to Saturday, from six in the morning to the night. «This weighs, weighs a lot,» he repeats. In his last stage, he agreed to train a couple of Colombians who has taken the reins of their butcher shop. «I taught you how this is going. Here the important thing is to treat the customer well, give quality and good price. If not, you leave.» Girón arrived in Spain a decade ago with his partner. She is a surgical instrumental, but like many migrants, she chained work in hospitality, cleaning and care before settling. They dreamed of undertaking: «We always came to buy here and looked at the transfer posters.» When they saw that Garcia's butcher shop offered, they did not hesitate. They made accounts, sought financing and, by chance, they discovered that the car they had just bought had sold the butcher's nephew. «It was like a sign. Everything fit.»Diego Salazar, Carlos García and Estefanny Girón in his carnage of the Maravillas Market this Thursday. Inma Floresel link was immediate. Garcia stayed with them the first month. He presented the suppliers, explained the favorite cuts of each client and taught them to recognize a good piece without looking at the label. «Although he's no longer here every day, he is still pending. He calls us, asks how everything goes. He feels like his. Actually, it is.» They decided to keep everything: the name, the aesthetics, even the cards. In the poster, under the logo, they included the foundation date: 1970. “It is a tribute. He founded this butcher shop, we are only taking care of it,” says Girón. They have not wanted to turn the place into a specialized butcher shop in Latin product. «This site already had a Latin soul before we arrived. Garcia was ours: affectionate, close, respectful of the elderly. We just want to follow his example.» Garcia is not the only one. In the Maravillas market, the transfer of the trade no longer happens between parents and children, but between the banks of the Atlantic. In recent years, dozens of positions have passed Latin Americans who, before lifting the blind, learned directly from those who had been decades after the counter. «Half of the businesses are already in the hands of Spanish -American people, and the trend is unstoppable,» explains Ander Zumeta Conceta Bastida, market manager. «We will surely reach 60%, 70% or even 75% in the coming years. 95% of the new applicants are already Latin American. Most, Venezuelans, although there are also Colombians, Peruvians, Ecuadorians and some Argentine.» For Zumeta, the relevant is not only the change of owners, but the way in which the relief occurs. «Many of these merchants began as workers in Spanish positions. They learned the trade directly from them and, over time, they set up their own business. In other cases, when the holder retires, they agree to stay for a while to train the new owner. They do so not to lose clientele, but also by commitment.» «The problem,» he adds, «is that the Spaniards no longer want to undertake. And if they do, they do not mount butchers or pollerias. Instead, Latin Americans are willing to work hard and assume that risk. They have another culture of work, another energy.» The transformation has been gradually: «Twenty years ago it began as a drip. Ten, there was already considerable presence. Now it is total. And it goes parallel to the neighborhood: many of the people living in Bravo Murillo and surroundings come from these countries and continue to buy in the market. That is another of the keys we are still living for.» The Wonders receives about 300,000 visitors per month, about four million a year, figures comparable to those of the Prado Museum. «Thanks to that audience and Latin American merchants, we continue to function as a traditional market, while others have had to turn towards the gastronomic or tourist,» says Zumeta. Although there is no official training program, many transfers include a voluntary accompaniment phase. «Older merchants ask us for help because they want to train someone before retiring. They don't want to leave this in the air.» One of those cases is Gonzalo's, García's brother, who spent 59 years after a butcher shop just in front of his brother's. A month ago he decided to retire, but it still costs him. «It comes almost every day,» says Giovanna Di Clemen, a 31 -year -old Venezuelan, who now manages the position with her partner. «It helps us with the suppliers, with the cuts, with the times of the meat. It set out to accompany us.» Di Clemen arrived in Spain six and a half years ago. In Venezuela he studied dentistry, but in Madrid his first job was in a game room. He had no experience as a carnicera. I only knew Gonzalo as a client. «We always bought the flesh. It was our butcher.» When they knew I pierced the position, they asked. «I was willing to help us from the beginning.» The structure, suppliers and attention follow the pattern left by Gonzalo, which at 79 does not finish cutting the link. «He doesn't want to leave it. Now he comes, he sits, he talks to his customers, he throws us a hand. He is happy because he no longer has to worry about expenses, but continues to enjoy the market.» Their children did not want to inherit the business. Di Clemen yes. «Thanks to him, we are not starting from scratch.» In other places of Madrid supplies, as in the Chamberí market (Alonso Cano, 10), the relay also speaks with Venezuelan accent. Albert Israel Durán Zambrano, 34, arrived three years ago in Madrid fleeing the economic crisis that his country ravages. In Venezuela I worked in the countryside. In Spain, it began in a precooked dishes and then in a butcher shop. When he saw on a website that a position was transferred, he did not hesitate. «It was the opportunity to have something of your own,» he recalls. The place already had history: first a Spanish butcher for three decades managed; Afterwards, a family has kept him since 2011. Durán bought it with a clear idea: not touching anything. «We keep the name – Valles Verdes – the suppliers and even the way to serve the client. Everything remains the same so as not to lose the confidence of the neighborhood.» It was a practical and emotional decision. «They told us that the important thing was to keep the public. Quality, prices and close treatment. That could not change.»