Martin Tušl, ECF Policy Intern, who has previously lived and worked in Colombia, shares his observations about cycling culture, infrastructure and even ... cycling-related song in this South American country!

Colombia is one of the South American countries where cycling is very popular. The capital Bogota is known for its ‘Ciclovía’ and Medellin, the City of Eternal Spring, where the first Latin American public bicycle sharing system ‘EnCicla’ became a phenomenon, is recognized for its sustainable transport policies. The country’s cycling culture has been recently influenced and supported by the song La Bicicleta from Colombian pop stars Shakira and Carlos Vives. This catchy song which mixes vallenato, pop and cumbia and contains indigenous wind instruments has quickly become famous around the world. The video clip featuring both singers travelling on bikes along the Colombian Caribbean coast, the place of their childhood, was released on 8 July and so far it has got over 460 million views on Youtube.

La Bicicleta has been labeled the song of the summer 2016. Therefore, it was seen as the 2016 Latin Grammy favourite for the song of the year. A Latin Grammy Award is an award to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin (Spanish/Portuguese speaking) music industry and today it attracts as much attention as the original Grammy. The ceremony of the 17th Latin Grammy took place on 17 November in Las Vegas and La Bicicleta eventually won two awards: Record of the Year and Song of the Year. “I want to dedicate the award to cyclists and the culture of cycling, pride of all Colombians. It is humble people from humble towns who give much glory to our country,” Carlos Vives commented.

On a bike that takes you everywhere…

The lyrics “On a bike that takes you everywhere” (in original “En una bici que te lleva a todos lados”) which are repeated several times can be regarded as the song’s message in favour of cycling. University teacher Sindy Montero from Valledupar, the cradle of traditional vallenato music whose traits are present in La Bicicleta, assumes: “The song incited Colombians to buy bicycles. Even the mayor of Valledupar bought the same type of bike which appeared in the music video to encourage people to use bikes as a mean of transport.”

Moreover, the home city of Carlos Vives, Santa Marta, inaugurated in 2015 the first recreational cycle route of the country’s Caribbean region and it is expected that similar projects will appear elsewhere, too. Why actually do Colombians like cycling? “It is a cultural thing. As kids we got a bicycle as a present from our parents. Every kid knows how to ride a bike and many people use it to go to school because it is cheap,” says Ms. Montero. Even though road safety and other cycling-related challenges in Colombia do persist, the strong national cycling culture may continue to flourish encouraged by the triumph of La Bicicleta.