Valparaíso, from a patrimonial jewel to a city in decline and abandoned

Twenty years after being declared a World Heritage Site by the Unescothe Chilean city of Valparaisoknown as “the jewel of the Pacific” and a former bohemian hotbed, today it sports a decadent atmosphere, reflecting a city struck by poverty and abandoned to its fate.

In Plaza Echaurren, its historical embryo and heart of the city, the buildings are reminiscent of European capitals, but they lie dirty and without activity.

“Valparaíso is very pretty, but it is abandoned. This is a dangerous sector, it has a lot of crime. To be a World Heritage Site, we are thrown away”criticizes Yasmín Fierro, administrator of one of the oldest bars in the city, with 126 years of life, in a corner of the square.

Fierro looks up at the roof of his premises full of hats hung on ropes, gifts from visitors from all over the world that are characteristic of the bar, but sometimes leaks also fall from that roof. The building is disused and when it rains the water leaks through the open windows on the third floor.

The history of Valparaíso is linked to its port, explained to EFE the historian of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso (PUCV) Baldomero Estrada: it developed with the expansion of European trade at the end of the 19th century, but that activity declined in the middle of the century past and went into decline.

“Valparaíso lost its leading role in Chile. A neighboring city appeared, Viña del Mar, which grows a lot and attracts tourism, and the industry went to Santiago”he detailed.

According to official data, the population of the Chilean capital increased by a 400% between 1952 and 2017, like the city of Viña del Mar, which grew a 278% in those years. Valparaíso, on the other hand, barely increased its population by a 3. 4% in the same period.

Without a plan for the estate

Near the center of the city is Cerro Alegre, full of colorful houses, an oasis of tourism and hospitality. In that area, criticism comes due to the lack of planning, which has ended in the loss of traditional commerce and the excessive rise in rents.

“Nothing is done with the heritage, the only thing that is taken care of has been done by the businesses and the people who live here”warns Vanesa Domínguez, co-owner of a cafeteria in one of the most photographed passages of Cerro Alegre.

For the president of the Valparaíso delegation of the College of Architects of Chile, Carolina Peñaloza Pinto, who participated in the application for World Heritage Site, the administrations have not had a clear roadmap to improve the city nor have they coordinated among themselves. to join efforts.

“Today, powerful actions are required by the State throughout the city, not only in the heritage site, to create infrastructure and mobilize the economy. Public projects can generate synergies for the private sector to join the recovery”claimed Peñaloza.

The port, an opportunity

A year ago, the municipality of Valparaíso promoted a new corporation where, with the leadership of the local government, all levels of the State and civil society organizations are coordinated, but its work is still in its infancy.

The mayor of Valparaíso, Jorge Sharp, in statements to EFE, said that the fundamental problem with the declaration was “Not linking the care of heritage with solving the long process of impoverishment that the city has suffered for more than 50 years.”

The municipality focuses on the port of Valparaíso, the second most important in Chile. It is the main industrial engine of the city and occupies a good part of the coastline, but currently it does not pay any taxes in the commune.

“Since the port and the city separated, the port continued to grow and the city entered a curve of underdevelopment that the Unesco declaration failed to reverse”said the mayor.

Now, the municipality wants the goods to pay a tribute that would contribute, according to their calculations, about 15,000 million Chilean pesos per year (18.7 million dollars today).

“But the responsibility also belongs to the State. Lack of permanent funding for heritage. If the central government does not provide resources as a part of its budget each year, the municipality alone cannot push a development strategy”added the mayor.

Last year, due to the alarm of patrimonial deterioration in the historic center, a Unesco delegation visited Valparaíso and proposed formulas to improve its state, but also raised the ghost of a possible removal of the city from the list of World Heritage Sites. .

Valparaíso, which once drew thousands of artists to its picturesque hills, is now waiting for a second chance to restore the shine to what was once a jewel on the Pacific coast of Latin America.

Source: EFE