The united community will never be defeated
Would you know how to say the names of the neighbors on your landing? What about those in your building? What about the ones in the building across the street? Do you talk to them when you pass them in the elevator? Have you ever asked them for salt? And that they water your plants?
If you have answered negatively to the previous questions, you are part of that high percentage of the population that does not have no idea who is on the other side of the wall at home.
Those same questions are what led to Sonia Alonso to create Got Salt? , a social network for our neighbors stop being strangers.
To share is to live!
THE NEIGHBORHOOD LIFE, THE BETTER LIFE
“Do you have salt? born when we remember our childhood, where we all knew each other, the closeness of the neighbors and the life of the united and committed neighbourhoods”, Sonia told Traveler.es
"Today we live a process of individualization that isolates us, a modernity that makes us not have to communicate or share with others. This reality makes it necessary to promote a tool that promotes solidarity”, affirms the creator of the platform.
The purpose of Do you have salt? is none other than recover neighborhood life by creating personal ties with those who live closest. "We are convinced that we need to get out of our bubble and look at what is happening around us," says Sonia.
Sonia Alonso, creator of Do you have salt?, wants you to meet your neighbors
MUCH MORE THAN ASKING FOR SALT
Sonia, a native of Barcelona, lives between Madrid and Berlin, and she decided to create Do you have salt? She earlier this year after speaking with Christian Vollmann, founder of Nebenan, the German version of the tool, and explaining her desire to bring it to Spain.
Do you have salt? appeared in June this year in Madrid and currently, in addition to the developers and designers, the team is made up of three people.
What can any resident of Madrid do with Haces Sal? “You can find neighbors with whom you share tastes, hobbies or ways of life: moviegoers, parents, runners, dog owners, etc.” Sonia told Traveler.es
The neighborhood social network
But the thing does not end there: "You can find help in those who are closer so that, for example, water your plants, take care of your cat when you're on vacation, or lend you a ladder,” she says.
"You can also find area recommendations (bakeries, hardware stores, computer technicians) and neighbors can organize more easily to create events or movements that make your neighborhood a better place” she continues.
To give an example, some hangouts, "Whether it's to go for a walk in Madrid Río, go for a run or have a few beers or, simply, to get to know each other" Sonia tells us.
MADRID, UNITED, WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED!
Do you have salt? she pretends recover the lost feeling of community. “Madrid, in particular, and all the big cities, in general, are losing their neighborhood identity. Although we live in a highly connected society, there is a lot of individualism and people are becoming more distrustful”, says Sonia.
As for the perennial problem of tourist flats and the excessive tourism that affects the neighborhoods, especially those in the center of the capital, Sonia thinks that “it negatively influences the feeling of belonging. The neighborhoods have a character and a way of living that has been forged on a day-to-day basis, and that is what makes each neighborhood unique”.
In addition, “this is also one of the causes of the gentrification that is taking place in many areas of Madrid, since rent prices and the cost of living are going up and the original people of the neighborhoods have to leave” she continues.
Love neighborhood
A BEAUTIFUL PARADOX
It's funny that a social network , which are partly to blame for our isolation from the real world, help us generate more community, but it all makes sense.
“Do you have salt? it is a digital tool that aims to facilitate meetings in real life. It is a paradox that a digital tool is needed to organize something with the neighbor next door. I know it is, but it helps to break the ice”, explains Sonia.
“In the future we would like to take more of the initiative and promote events or gatherings, without forgetting that the ones who set the pace are the neighbors themselves,” she says.
As for whether you have salt? will reach other cities, “We are working now to launch the platform in Barcelona, which will happen very soon”, Sonia overtakes us.
It's time to ask for salt again!
Who lives next door?