The Latin Village

By Barry McDonald

Seven Sisters Indoor Market also known as Latin Village, is a multicultural hub in Tottenham, North London. It is a mix of cafes, hairdressers, nail salons, supermarkets, butchers, clothes shops, solicitors, rental agency, internet cafe, money transfers, video store, restaurants, tailor, household goods and furniture suppliers.

It is also much more for the mainly Latin American community in London, who the market has become a meeting place, an important link to their language, food, music and culture and offers a support network for them. Traders come from Colombia, Peru, Chile, The Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Brazil, Iran, Uganda, Ghana and Spain. Some traders have been there for 20 years, some are family businesses where different generations work side by side. It has the same significance for Latin communities as China Town does for Oriental communities.

The building was originally an Edwardian department store for furnishings from 1901 until 1972. After some years of the building being vacant it was reopened as an indoor market. It has developed into the largest place for Spanish speaking communities, after Elephant & Castle in South London has been gentrified to the point of forcing the Latin communities out.

For the past 15 years the market has been under threat of closure from property developers wishing to level the building and make commercial units and new flats with no affordable housing or units included in the plan. The Save Latin Village Campaign has put together an alternative plan that would see the original building renovated with a community centre and affordable housing.

I have lived in Tottenham my whole life and have seen the market develop into this important space for independent traders and different immigrant communities. As London develops at a rapid pace we are in danger of letting places like Latin Village be swept away and lose the very thing that gives London its identity. I wanted to capture the market in this moment in time, and hope the second part of my project will be to show the renovated market with the community thriving.