One had to get into the water. And Torrero has certainly gotten in. Nearly 200 boats and hundreds of people have turned the Imperial Canal into a long, wacky, and reivindicative floating serpent this Sunday. Rowboats, inflatable boats, artisanal boats, and any invention capable of staying on the water—at least for a while—have starred in one of the most multitudinous Canal Downings ever remembered.
Starting at 10:00 am, the ritual began from the walkway of Rincón de Goya. Ahead lay several kilometers of navigation to La Paz Park. Some crews were inexperienced; others were making their debut. Many youngsters, entire families, and students from public schools who traded classrooms for the Canal for a few hours without forgetting to defend public education.
Also numerous Palestinian families, with their flags in the wind, and Saharawi families. "Free Palestine" and "Free Sahara" resonated from bridge to bridge. Because in the Downing one comes to row, to get wet, to laugh, and, for 44 editions, to demand rights.
Four hours of boats and two hours getting them out of the water
At 12:00 pm, the first boats were already reaching the bridge of La Paz Park. There another small guerrilla awaited, this one on dry land: volunteer residents helping to disembark the elderly, the little ones, and all kinds of floating contraptions.
And there was still a Downing to go. For two hours practically without rest, crews kept arriving. Some entire crews; others much wetter than expected. By 2:00 pm, the last ones appeared. The Firefighters' boat marked the end of a convoy that had spent more than four hours traveling the Canal.
The bridges also did not limit themselves to watching. Covered with banners, for another year, they put words to the struggles that navigated the Canal: Aragon without evictions, climate refuges, public health and education, Free Palestine, Free Sahara, defense of the Pine Forests of Venice, and rejection of speculation, among many others.
People from the Social Center Occupied Kike Mur, threatened by municipal plans for the former prison of Torrero, and the forest firefighters, just released from their labor conflict, also sailed. And among so many demands, there was also space for remembrance: Juanote, the firefighter who died this summer, was present in the Downing.
And between rowing and rowing, cries of "Aragon and nation, self-determination," anti-fascist slogans, and criticism of the management of PP and Vox in the Zaragoza City Council and the Government of Aragon echoed.
"Canal navigable to the sea"
But if there is one demand that has been up on all the boats for 44 editions is that of the Canal itself. "Canal navigable to the sea, because we will not give up until we achieve it," proclaims this year's manifesto. The organizing bodies recall that they navigate a space that constitutes a "rich historical, social, environmental, monumental, and landscape heritage" and that, despite this, they denounce that it continues to receive inadequate attention from the administrations. In front of the institutional tributes to Pignatelli, they demand something much more tangible: to keep the Canal clean, to care for the trees that embrace it, to keep road traffic away from its banks, and to recover its spaces.
The aspiration is not new either: to turn the Canal into "a green axis vertebrating the south of the city" and "a citizen's promenade." The Downing itself, they explain, has ended up becoming "an act of awareness and rebellion" over the years, as well as an expression of self-management, collective work, and "neighborhood pride!". A pride that had already filled La Paz Park the night before, with a party organized by neighborhood associations and FABZ.
Self-management is precisely what makes such a spectacle possible. Behind it are, for another year, the neighborhood associations La Paz and Venecia and the Cultural Association El Cantero. Every third Sunday of September, the neighborhood fabric organizes the navigation, accompanies the route, receives the boats, and when everything is over, the party continues.
"More water for the ducks and not for data centers"
This year, much of the attention has also been directed a few meters beyond the channel. The defense of the Pine Forests of Venice occupies a prominent place in the manifesto.
The associations fight against projects linked to the expansion of the Amusement Park and the new roads planned in their surroundings. They demand a protection figure for the Pine Forest, its recognition as a "tree grove of social interest," and annual resources for its improvement, maintenance, and regeneration.
Opposition to the Microsoft data center projected next to Puerto Venecia also found a place on the boats. The manifesto includes the criticisms of the Platform Save the Pine Forests of Venice regarding water and energy consumption, the processing of these projects and their possible effects, and calls for joining the mobilizations.
The Downing summarized it much more simply. "More water for the ducks and not for data centers" has been one of the most heard slogans during the morning.
And from water, we will pass to asphalt again. The demand will continue next Sunday, September 27th, with the demonstration called for at 12:00 pm from the Plaza de las Canteras under the slogan "No data centers nor roads for the Amusement Park". One week after filling the Canal with boats, the call is to fill the streets in defense of the Pine Forests of Venice.
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Palestine also navigates through Torrero
If solidarity has been especially visible this Sunday, it has been Palestinian. Flags on the boats, on the banks and on the bridges; Palestinian families participating in the Downing and cries against genocide accompanied much of the route.
Palestine also occupies a special place in the hearts of the solidary Torrero. In their manifesto, the associations denounce the suffering of the Palestinian people, demand the rupture of relations with Israel, and shout, loud and clear: "Long live the struggle of the Palestinian people!".
It has not been the only denunciation. The text demands more human and material means for fire safety devices; it defends the continuity of the CSO Kike Mur against the threat of eviction; and it denounces the deficiencies that the associations observe in public education and health.
The manifesto also attacks the governments of PP and Vox and accuses the Zaragoza City Council and the Government of Aragon of "silencing" the neighborhood movement, imposing decisions, and preventing citizen participation. These are some of the "very dark clouds" that, according to the organizing bodies, currently hover over the political and social atmosphere.
And there are many more, they recognize: democratic memory, immigration, housing, parks and green areas. That is why the text culminates in a call to participate in assemblies, organize, and build "a neighborhood fabric that is increasingly strong, informed, and capable of responding to abuses and imposition." "Bad times are coming, but we will face them from the Independent Republic of Torrero."
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And after rowing, to La Paz Park
Because not everything was going to be rowing. With the last boats out of the water, the Downing changed the Canal for La Paz Park. There, crews, families, volunteers, and the neighborhood continued a day that had begun four hours earlier in Rincón de Goya: popular ranch, sandwiches, bars, and live music until late in the afternoon.
Party and demand. Splashing and banners. Little ones debuting and veterans who have lived half a life rowing. Almost 200 boats and an entire neighborhood determined to show, for the forty-fourth time, that self-management also floats. And if a boat sinks on the way, it is pulled out of the water, fixed, and the attempt is made again on the third Sunday of September. Canal navigable to the sea. Because Torrero, for now, does not seem willing to give up.