Pitu Cunillera, rebellious soul of Raval, dies

BarcelonaOur beloved Pitu Cunillera Gustems (1938-2026), shoemaker and activist from the Raval neighborhood of Barcelona, ​​has passed away. You left without receiving a proper tribute. You, who were the driving force that brought together the residents of what was then Barcelona's Fifth District. El Chino. El Raval. And who, after several attempts thwarted by the local government, founded the Fifth District Residents' Association in 1973, which was approved a year later. A curious association: first the children and the elderly. And of course, there had to be a Fun Committee, because for decades street parties had been what maintained solidarity and morale.

It was difficult, you rascal, because the District Councilor, Mr. Abeja, didn't like you at all, and he complained to the Civil Governor, His Excellency Don Martín Villa. What times those were, Pitu. And neither did the police who kept watch over the large gatherings.

Out of rebellion, yes! Out of rage, too! That rage you'd absorbed in Santes Creus since your birth in 1938, your father having died on the Ebro Front, marching with your mother and siblings, searching in Poble Sec for the bread denied you in a land that wasn't for widows. Humiliation and rage ingrained in you. Shortly after, in the Raval, living off your mother's balance and strength. Like Rocío's, what patience. And the children. You're a volcano!

You took root deeply, because you joined every battle. You picked up the ancient, invisible thread of the Raval, woven with revolt, solidarity, and belonging. Rage and humiliation at the evictions of people living precariously, as they tried to clear the stigmatized neighborhood. Rage in 1966 when a house burned down on Carretas. A riot in 1974 when a shoe store burned down in Tàpies, resulting in many deaths. Between shoe sales, uniting the neighborhood and going further, united in any struggle: Catalan in schools, Xirinacs winning the Nobel Prize, amnesty and freedom, human rights. Total transformation of the world.

With mischievous, stimulating joy, to lead from the shoe store at Sant Pacià, 6, a People's House where the immense Rocío – without her, nothing! – comforted and opened the table to everyone to organize the Sant Ponç fair or the Casal summer camps.

Pitu, you have left us your two great and lasting tributes: the Casal Dr. Trueta and the Casal dels Infants. We would like, however, for you to have grafted onto us the militancy, the revolt, also the rage to maintain the"a silent and constant struggle". Knowing that for the equality of children, for the dignity of the neighborhood, there is still much to be done.

All we can say is: thank you, Pitu! Without you, we wouldn't have been born in the Raval of Barcelona.