Jorge Bustos writes to the homeless: “I didn't want to fall into melodrama” | EUROtoday

Jorge Bustos, columnist and reporter for this newspaper, didn’t wish to write one other social report loaded with melodrama. “I didn't want to show excessive distance or fall into condescension. It is easy to fall into one of these two extremes. I was worried about writing a text with excessive drama even though the stories are very hard: these stories are so powerful that they do not need ornament. My goal was to disappear behind the stories,” he defined this Thursday on the Cecilio Rodríguez Pavilion in Retiro, the place he offered 'Almost' (Asteroid Books)the report through which he tells of a sheaf of tales taken from the San Isidro Reception Center, the oldest in Spain.

He led the occasion Laura Castaos, General Director of Social Inclusion of the Madrid City Council. The mayor of town, José Luis Martínez-Almeida and one of many protagonists of Casi, Jess Garca Fernandez, has accompanied the writer. “The book does not have an ounce of fiction. I have changed some names. It is a small fresco of the reality of homelessness. I do not like artists, writers or journalists who try to aestheticize poverty without telling the drama behind it.” 'Almost' is the sixth e book revealed by Jorge Bustos, “the second in Asteroid Books.” It is written within the first particular person. “In this way it is reflected in the book how my gaze is transformed.”

Jorge Bustos determined to hint the route of those that have nowhere to go in February 2021. “I had just bought an apartment. I was a proud owner. It is not easy to buy an apartment in Madrid, mayor. 600 meters from my house stood the ALMOST. The first impression I had was one of rejection. The book was born from rejection,” he confessed. “After seeing the users and questioning myself, a light went on in me. There was something more than a report: there was a book”. And he has ended up publishing, after submerging the middle's assets, a “fresco of the human condition. We should not romanticize those who are homeless. There are good and bad people.”

Doing social journalism, Bustos seems like an “imposter.” His intention to hold out 'Almost' has earned him an award. “This book was born with a prize under my arm before it was written. At that time I was doing research. Until now I had only asked questions. When I came up with the idea of ​​this book, I was actually the one surprised,” he stated. saying. “I had never done social journalism. It had given me a lot of respect. I come from political journalism, from political criticism.”

Jess García Fernndez is a cartoonist. He spent 23 years photographing vacationers within the Retiro. “All the way until you reach the street there are steps. First you don't admit it. Then, you have pride. In the end you lose your dignity. Many people lose it.” Jess has mapped out a technique to keep up dignity. “Never sleep with your back on the floor. It is difficult to have a normal life and become a lump. At night people look at me differently.”

“The problem of homelessness is invisibility,” Martínez-Almeida agreed with Bustos. “That a journalist of his background was willing to tell about it was enough to reward him. The most common thing is to close one's eyes to this problem. Here we have CASI. Nobody is aware of the real problem. For me, the first visit to CASI was a turning point. of no return,” the mayor acknowledged. “If we are not aware that it can happen to anyone, we will not be able to keep our eyes open to help those who suffer from this problem. I want to thank all the workers without whom it will be impossible to tackle the gigantic social work that is done in this city” .

Almeida and Bustos have obtained a portrait of Jess Garca Fernndez as a present. The writer has instructed anecdotes that seem within the report, equivalent to The go to to Vila with the individuals who have the middle as a assist, which ended with one of many detained customers. “They told the guide that there was a plan to steal his wallet,” Bustos talked about in one of many tales. “Anyone could have been a page in the newspaper. Life in the ALMOST day to complete a journalistic series with hundreds of stories.”

The occasion was attended by, amongst different personalities, the deputy mayor Borja Fanjulthe director of EL MUNDO, Joaquin Manso, and the deputy director Vicente Ruiz. “This is a group that does not have the possibility of victimizing itself,” Bustos concluded.