Those of us from the ’60s and ’70s generation had fences that barred us from entering the private swimming pools: Orientales, San Miguel, Astilleros, Las Delis, and, above all, the ones in San Sebastián. Those pools had taken over part of the public beach, as if it were their own. We, the neighborhood kids, would climb over them like babies, jumping or squeezing through some hole that was always there. Always with the goal of swimming in those pools.
We’d have contests on the diving boards at San Sebastián. I had friends who’d jump from the third board, which was closed off because of the death of a swimmer (or so they said). I used to jump off the second diving board, which was already pretty good; I was never that daring. So for us, there was always La Maldita Valla.
The Barcelona Olympics came along and everything changed. I’ll never know if it was for the better or not. Sometimes I still wonder about it.
But the pools and their valleys will always be part of the memories of our childhood and youth.
