Luciana Palacio I grew up surrounded by all the effort that goes into running a business. In accordance with her father’s legacy, during these six years she became not only the owner of one of the most emblematic bars in Belgrano; He recovered his grandfather’s hotel, which had been raped.
“When I learned that I had recovered the property, I started crying and ran to the place,” Luciana says.
But until a few months ago, the outlook was disappointing.
For a long time I carried Emotions And the situations that pushed her to the extreme.
In the beginning it was His father’s tragic death in 2019This is because she suffered an electric shock while repairing the building she now owns. Years later, she gave birth to her younger sister Serious car accident.
This year the situation did not improve: he received threats and blackmail from Rapistsfrom They demanded million dollar figuresWhen she learned that Luciana wanted to get back what belonged to her family.
One of the Dominican “squatters”, along with his accomplice, played a leadership role in the seized property. There were more than 10 people living there, and they were asking for $30 million “per person” to leave the property. Which, of course, was not theirs.
The hotel in question belonged to his paternal grandfather, Graciano Palaciowho runs away from Spanish Civil War At the beginning of the twentieth century, he came to live in Buenos Aires with his partner. He is from Asturias, is from Galicia.
Together they made a trip to the city like many other Spaniards who were in the same situation. Here, after working in various fields, he saw his trade in buying and selling real estate. That’s how he got the hotel down the street Chile 1228, in Montserrat.
Unlike the other properties that Graciano was able to sell, this one had a different fate. He was soon in charge of a hotel/boarding house It hosted many immigrants who arrived in Buenos Aires.. That was his peak.
Over time, the old hotel on Chili Street fell into the hands of third parties, and to date it has not been restored by its owners. When Luciana’s father died, she checked the status of the lease and found that it had not been renewed, although people continued to live in the place.
Not only this: Those who led the rape sublet the rooms.
The recovery operation took place following the operation carried out by the Government of Buenos Aires and carried out by the City Police, personnel of Public Space and Urban Hygiene, Emergency Situations, Firefighters and the Aid Network, following a complaint of rape submitted to the Public Prosecutor’s Office No. 21.
It came to fruition after Luciana called the head of Buenos Aires’ government, Jorge Macri, to tell him that the family’s property had been seized for six years and had been handled irregularly for 18 years.
“When she called me, I never thought they would listen to me: I know the country I live in, where such things don’t happen,” says Luciana. “I went from horror to relief, and I thought I would never get it back.”becomes excited.
“When a place is raped, everything that happens around it becomes bad. Drug dealing, drug trafficking, hidden criminals and burglaries multiply in the neighborhoods. “That is why we will never justify a crime: in the city, private property is respected and the state stands by those who comply,” said Jorge Macri in this sense.
The old hotel owned by Luciana’s grandfather wasn’t the only property recently repossessed by its owners, and this has something to do with it Change of era And by a political decision. In fact, it was Property No. 500 that the city has returned to its owners over the past two years.
The rapists were evicted from other former hotels in Constitución and Flores They were used as brothels or drug hideouts. Seized properties in Almagro, Palermo, La Boca, Villa Crespo, Paracas and Once, among other neighborhoods, were also recovered.
The Luciana Palacio Hotel now appears to be unrecognizable.
A long way from its glory years run by his grandfather Graciano, the property is at the moment It has no electricity, gas or water and is in a very dilapidated condition.with construction detachments and structural hazards, among other problems.
Despite this, she has faith. “Over time I would appreciate it.”,account.
He says it and it is inevitable that he imagines his grandfather designing the hotel. It’s also impossible for her to forget her father as he built the current bar she owns today, which has been a symbol of the Belgrano neighborhood for 24 years, on a nearly empty lot.
The issue of legacies.
Or the destination you choose every time you walk through the facility’s door.