Town door of Elvira- Give him alms, woman, in life there is nothing like the pain of being blind in Granada.
Francisco de Icaza (Famous Mexican poet)
- If we were to visit one city in Spain, that should be Granada.
Ernest Hemingway, American writer.
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Every city has its charm, Granada has its charm and all others.
Antonio Machado
Ms. Miriam Prieto, Delegate of Environment in the Provincial Govenrment of Granada, received us and listened with great attention to our proposal for GoPedelec events for the city.
Granada is a beautiful and vibrant city, growing population and need to enlarge and modernize its infrastructure.
Since the 80´s, where I studied Technical Architecture there, traffic has grown in direct relation to the increase of the population in both the city and adjacent villages. And while there is a major highway that borders the city, and deprives the passing traveler of having to go inside it, at certain times of day, traffic is heavy and slow. The influx of large numbers of tourist buses full of visitors, especially to attend the magnificent Alhambra Palace, is of no help to the problem. Although even in this task, the City Council has done a good job of making force reservation to visit the Alhambra, and thereby reduce the number of buses entering the city.
Taxis waiting at Plaza NuevaSome roads have been upgraded to move in one direction and give priority to public transport, such as Gran Via, and I watched with great interest the construction of a tram line that will cross the city and join several surrounding towns. Many people, who probably use their cars to enter the city, and livewithin a radius of 10 km, will benefit from this infrastructure. This distance might be too large to manage in a conventional bicycle, but can easily be covered with an electric bike in about 20-25 minutes, without undue effort and with the advantage of not having to find a parking space.
Already some people use electric bikes in the city
Once in the city, most people move on foot or by public transport. I moved around in a folding electric bike from the company Flyer, and it was the delight of those who tried it. As I stopped to take some pictures of Granada, many ask me about the strange box placed on top of the bracket. (The battery)
The photographs show says it all. Smiles from ear to ear and comments of approval occurred one after another. When asked if they would use an electric bike for transportation, everyone gave me a resounding yes.
I look forward to know what the decision makers of the Diputación de Granada think about the GoPedelec events, financed by the EU. This project will try to prove if electric bicycles are a vehicle that can be beneficial for citizens, especially for those living in neighboring cities and towns.
New Tram lineFor 3 days, anyone will be able to try pedal assist electric bicycles and some e-cycles. The potential users will play a major role in the possible continuation of this program and the study of the benefits that these vehicles can bring to cities. However, sales over half a million units in Germany, Holland and Denmark, makes clear that acceptance of these vehicles is high and it is only clouded by the high price that some people see in them.
Granada embraces the traveler, as beautiful as any city in the world, full of nooks to get lost in philosophical thoughts in poetry and magic.
Very cosmopolitan, people are always friendly, and respectful. Granada welcomes us as always with a silent smile, even furtive, inviting us ... but better, I invite you to visit it, because I have no words or enough control of prose to describe it.
It is like trying to explain the feeling of using an electric bike. It is better to do a few laps on a GoPedelec circuit. You have to come to Granada and breathe and feel the city.
And I think without doubt, its inhabitants will feel very attracted to all the benefits that electric bikes bring.
Thanks to:
extraenergy.org
ecomimesis
gopedelec.eu
populo.es