This is how cooks, taxi drivers and laborers experience Ramadan
During this month, in neighborhoods like Barcelona's Raval, many businesses see their business drop by nearly 40%.
BarcelonaOn March 30th, the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar will end. From that day on, Muslims will once again be able to drink, eat, and have sex during daylight hours. Ramadan, which commemorates the month-long revelation of the holy book, the Quran, by God to the prophet Muhammad in the desert, will end. During this March, more than 600,000 Muslims living in Catalonia, primarily from the Maghreb, sub-Saharan Africa, and Pakistan, will change their daily habits: they wake up earlier than usual and force themselves to fast and abstain for much of the day.
One of the Barcelona neighborhoods where Ramadan has the greatest impact is the Raval, a melting pot of cultures with a predominance of Islam. "Fifty-five percent of the neighborhood's business is Muslim," explains Kamil, who runs several restaurants at the top of the Raval. He claims that sales at Bismillah Kebabish, one of the legendary establishments on Joaquim Costa Street, will fall between 35 and 40% this month. A snapshot of a weekday lunchtime proves him right. At lunchtime, there are a dozen tables full, all occupied by Westerners.
The figures are similar for all establishments in the area. At the candy store across the street, they also estimate a 40% drop in sales. A little further up the road, at Bocatas del Sultán, they raise the figure to 50%. The customers are three young Latinos. When the sun goes down, some Muslims come to the establishments, but only in dribs and drabs, for the most important meal of the day.'iftar"People eat more at home or go to the mosque," Kamil notes. However, outside the Raval district, the situation changes radically. In the heart of Eixample, at the City Doner Kebap on Rocafort Street, the impact of Ramadan is zero.
Where the decline in consumption is also noticeable is in food stores specializing in Islamic customers. Sarfrac owns a butcher shop on Riera Alta Street. He estimates that he will lose a third of his business in March. In the morning, before the fast, in what is known as suhur, "We eat more fruit, yogurt, dates, and spices," she explains. She says this without concern. Ramadan is very important for the Muslim community. "For us, it means sacrifice, helping others, the poor," she summarizes.
El Munir, a taxi driver and spokesperson for the Anget union, points out that Ramadan goes far beyond going a month without eating or drinking. There's an ethical undertone, and that's why he, like everyone who speaks it, does so with pride. It's a month to do more "reading the Quran, praying, living together, respecting, humility, solidarity... If you achieve it this month, you'll achieve it every time," Munir lists in perfect Catalan. She has always made "the most important decisions" of her life during Ramadan because it's a month in which she feels the most inner peace.
The first few days are the most complicated because "the body has to get used to it," explains Lacen, who works in the transport sector. It's worse for those who serve food, like Inés. She's behind a counter at the Green Café on Guifré Street, in the heart of Barcelona. She's twenty years old and has been observing Ramadan for eight years. "At first, I was craving some food that was in front of me all day, but you end up getting used to it; it doesn't create any need," she says. "When you touch food, you feel more like eating, but people comply," adds Kamil, who has a handful of Muslim workers serving meals at her command.
Dry throat
The type of profession, and especially whether Ramadan coincides with summer, can make fasting more difficult. However, since most started as teenagers, they're used to it. Abdelhay paves the sidewalks on Ronda Sant Antoni. He feels more "tired" than usual, but he's been doing Ramadan since he was eleven, and he's now thirty-four. Like Ahmed and Mohammed, who also work in construction. Physical labor that consumes more energy.
More than hunger, however, the main complication is not being able to drink. Water in summer is more necessary than ever. "Especially when your throat is dry from the heat," notes Ahmed, who has been fulfilling his duty as a Muslim for thirty years. Since it's a lunar calendar, this holiday varies by year and can fall in the middle of summer, when the heat, especially in African or Asian countries, can be extreme.
"Doing it in February or March isn't the same as doing it in August. The days are longer, it's hotter, and the issue of physical exertion must be taken more into account. In our country, in Catalonia, shop or work opening hours aren't adapted. However, there are people who just go," explains Munir.
In his sector, the taxi sector, the impact is notable: almost a third of the licenses in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area are owned by people of foreign origin, especially from the Pakistani community, and 80% of the taxi driver candidates who took the 2024 exams were also born. That's why the Metropolitan Taxi Institute (IMET) is monitoring supply and demand in order to, if necessary, liberalize the service on a timely basis, as happens during major events.
When Muslim boys and girls they reach puberty, they begin to strictly observe Ramadan. Before, they do it punctually, for a few hours or just a few days a week. "It doesn't affect them too much academically, because they're very used to it. However, they're a little more tired because they've had to get up earlier," explains Verònica Santos, the director of the Miquel Tarradell High School. However, there's a counterpart in the tiredness and hunger accumulated during the hours of sunlight: "They embrace it with great enthusiasm, because they feel older, they get along better because they want to be exemplary."