Joan Pujades: "I had never imagined delivering bread other than by bicycle"

GironaIt's not easy to interview Joan Pujades, from the La Puntual bakery. He doesn't like the spotlight. The long queues in front of his bakery in the Devesa neighborhood haven't come from big marketing campaigns, but from consistency, good products, friendliness, and, above all, humility. When he agrees to do it, after much insistence, he sets only one condition: that it be while he's delivering bread. This means spending an hour chasing his tricycle through the streets of Girona. At every corner, someone greets him. A customer, a shopkeeper, an acquaintance. He exchanges a few words with everyone, always by name. He gives away a fritter, a slice of cake, or simply a "good morning!" "I'm a bit like Girona's Snowflake. And they haven't thrown peanuts at me yet, but it's not far off. Since there are few delivery people by bike in Girona...", he says, laughing.

He's been delivering bread by tricycle for almost ten years. In fact, the same day he bought the bakery, he also bought the bicycle. "I had never imagined delivering bread other than by bicycle," he explains as we move from one place to another. His story is one of personal reinvention. After forty, he decided to make a professional change and dedicate himself to what he is passionate about. For almost ten years now, La Puntual has become one of Girona's reference bakeries. Not only for its sourdough bread, its good pastries, and now also a quiet bar where the newspaper is available every day, but also for a unique business model.

Be coherent

“I think, in the long run, what's good is to be consistent. If you buy flour around Girona and make bread for the neighborhood, it doesn't make much sense to deliver by car... So, applied to all areas: because, after all, that way everything is easier,” reflects Joan, parked on Carrer de la Força, in the Barri Vell. It's one of the areas in Girona, along with Carrer de l'Argenteria, where bicycle access has been restricted during the day due to the cycling tourism boom the city is experiencing. He argues that his job is as a commercial delivery person, like the numerous vans parked throughout the neighborhood that supply Girona's other boom: that of restaurants.

He likes to imagine a city with fewer cars and a Barri Vell where solutions like his were common. That way, he says, delivery drivers would be in a “better mood.” “Now you see many more bicycles than ten years ago, but not of my type,” he laments, after various cycling logistics projects have not prospered once subsidies have run out. In his case, he continues cycling because it makes him feel more “content” than driving a car, even though over the years it has become increasingly strenuous for his body and due to the fumes he inhales from cars. “At first, I thought I would have to pedal less,” he explains about the French tricycle model that has accompanied him since day one.

A cargo tricycle

It has a small basket in front, two mirrors, an electric motor, and at the back a large closed box that reads "La Puntual". Inside, each bread and pastry order is prepared. Joan leaves every morning around nine, first delivering in the Eixample and then heading to the Barri Vell before returning home. Whether it's hot, cold, or raining. A small cover on the same box protects it, but after all, as he says, "for the seven days a year it rains in Girona!" Some customers ask him why he doesn't delegate it to an employee, but he claims it's one of the moments he enjoys most about his job.

A cycling enthusiast from a young age – he clearly remembers going to the Pedal Festival as a child and still keeps the trophy he won for best joke – he celebrates the cycling effervescence the city has experienced. "I love it, because it brings life and is a gift to the city. It's a cool change. I don't know if we're aware of it." Ten years later, Girona has filled up with bicycles. He continues pedaling almost the same as the first day. Without making noise. Without trying to convince anyone. Just trying to be coherent.