San Salvador from the air

Photo Mauro Arias, El Faro


The online periodical El Faro today published a collection of 48 photos of San Salvador and surrounding municipalities taken from the air.   It is a fascinating view from the historic center of the city to brand new subdivisions, from luxury homes on the slopes of the San Salvador volcano to marginalized communities built on the banks of the Acelhuate River.  Check it out.


Comments

Carlos X. said…
Tim, these pictures are amazing. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the following pictures should provide readers who have not been to El Salvador a useful introduction to some of the country's issues. The first picture of the gallery (there are 48 pictures in all) shows the sprawling city at the foot of the San Salvador volcano, showing the confluence of breathtaking natural beauty and the breath choking, gritty, urban landscape. The second picture (2/48) shows the San Salvador Cathedral, shorn of its colorful tiles in a controversial decision of the current archbishop of San Salvador last year. Frame 3/48, which you selected for your story, shows El Calvario Church. A few shots later, frame 11/48 shows Sagrado Corazon Church, where Archbishop Romero pronounced his final Sunday sermon ("Stop the repression!"). To understand the daily reality of many Salvadorans, look at 14/48, which shows raw sewage flowing into a stream that crosses the city, eating away at the hillside and exposing surrounding houses to danger. There have been many problems with erosion threatening precariously perched houses under similar circumstances. Frame 16/48 shows tinbox houses in a poor neighborhood abutting a river. You can imagine the danger when there are torrential rains and these rivers flood. El Salvador is one of the most flood-prone countries in the hemisphere. Frame 18/48 will give you a sobering sense of the reality for the poor in a slum neighborhood. Many precariously perched houses. This is all in contrast to the living conditions seen in frame 20/48, which shows the affluent Colonia Escalon on the west side of San Salvador, the country club at 21/48, or the mansion at 23/48. You can see a stunning juxtaposition where these worlds meet at 25/48, which shows new construction for the well-to-do abutting the modest homes of the poor. Frame 37/48 looks tranquil and even pleasant, but it conceals a great tragedy: in January 2001, a large earthquake unleashed a great landslide down this hill, killing over a thousand. The other shots reveal all of San Salvador's complexity: industry, a teeming population, and a burgeoning spirit.
9:09 PM
Tim said…
Carlos,

Thanks for providing the guided tour to these photos for the readers of this blog.

Tim
10:43 PM
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