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Iloilo City's CALLE REAL Pedestrianization Project

Slowly but surely the realization of the Calle Real Pedestrianization Project is definitely taking shape. A few weeks ago, when the plans were bared by Councilor Jason Gonzales, Ilonggos took the news with great interest.

As the first plans stated "CALLE Real in Iloilo City is envisioned to become a public park for pedestrians and bikers starting November 30 to December 28 to explore the viability of a pedestrianized downtown core. The one month experiment proposal will temporarily close the street junctions from JM Basa and Arroyo to JM Basa and Mapa at 5 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. every weekend." - as published on SunStar Iloilo.
At first, the plan was stalled from its Nov. 30 target date but the overwhelming support of the Ilonggos to the project failed to dampen and now the latest update has the project's introduction phase being extend to three months. Starting Dec. 14, and every weekend thereafter, the portion of Calle Real from Plazoleta Gay to Freedom Grandstand (highlighted below) will be closed to vehicular traffic from 5PM every Saturday until 1159PM Sunday until March 16, 2014.


"TMTRO chief, Engr. Jose Tengco said the three months experimental walk tour will open the street span for night vendors and other sellers as domestic and foreign tourists walk to see the numerous heritage buildings of the old city refurbished to its original façade without fear of running vehicles." quoting a clip from the Iloilo Metropolitan Times. The ceremony on Dec. 14 around 5pm will open the the said project to all the tourism stakeholders, private  entities and the public. It will have a walking tour showcasing the history of the heritage zone dominated by decades old architecture. Side events will feature street performers, chorals, artisanal Ilonggo delicacies and street food as well as a food festival. (More updates to come very soon).  
This three month preview of the Iloilo Calle Real Pedestrianization Project is just a short term work for the ultimate goal of having the complete pedestrianization of the whole stretch of Calle Real on a permanent basis . It is envisioned to become a major tourist attraction of Iloilo City not only showcasing its rich history and colorful heritage but also on how the Ilonggos value their culture hand in hand with the present and future development.

And finally going back to the beginning, echoing its rich colonial past, the Calle Real Pedestrianization preview embodies Iloilo's Spanish heritage in an American setting. Comprar sa Iloilo, Calle Real Pasear na! is the battlecry of the event. Comprar is a Spanish word which means "to buy, to purchase" - which is apt to associate with Calle Real since this street has been the commercial center of Iloilo City back to more than a century ago. 
Image from CALLE REAL Iloilo City Facebook Page
The inverted exclamation points (¡) are punctuation marks used to begin interrogative and exclamatory sentences (or clauses), respectively, in written Spanish and sometimes also in languages which have cultural ties with Spanish, such as in older standards of Galician (now it is optional and not recommended) or Catalan. (from Wikipedia). And Pasear as we all know is the root word of the word "pasyal" which means "to take a walk".

So only a few more days when it becomes the start of something new is about to grip the Ilonggos. "Comprar sa Iloilo, Calle Real, Pasear na!"
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