Tonight there’s a benefit concert called Buena Chen whose proceeds will go in part to developing an office of Derechos Sociales (Social Rights) in conjunction with the Red de Apoyo a Sin Papeles de Aragón (“Network of Support for People with Papers in Aragón”). The other day I met José Luis Martinez, who has been helping to coordinate volunteers for the concert. He explained that the economic crisis has been especially hard on sin papeles, people without official papers to live or work in Spain. The traditional left and sin papeles aren’t necessarily always well-connected, he said, even though they have common interests.
The concert is the second in what is planned to be a yearly event. José Luis was involved last year, as well, and he remembers it very fondly. “It was an absolute success,” he said. “There were no problems,” and no graffiti, which is very common at shows here. “People showed a lot of solidarity and engagement,” he said.
The acts this year are very diverse, including the local band Lurte, who play traditional music from Aragón (the communidad Zaragoza is in) and who totally look the part.
