Multifaceted, fanatical about order in her daily routine, chaotic on her travels, a colour psychology practitioner, vibrant, flirtatious, supportive, impatient and, yes, an unstoppable live wire. Her brain works at a thousand miles per hour and, if you are a calm person, her indefatigable nature can annoy you. But only at first –when you discover her multiple facets, you become a fan and then you understand that, contrary to the saying, first impressions are not what counts.
Behind her colourful, free, easy, and fun appearance, there hides a person who is never frivolous. A family drama led her to change forever her priorities. And although you might find her in the middle of a melon patch, wearing a giant straw hat and a wide smile, you wouldn’t imagine that she had to take several painkillers that day to cope with the pain derived from a complicated spinal operation.
For the interview, we met at the office in order to go to her house. In the 200 metres that separate her two ‘homes’, she is stopped and greeted many times. It is just like walking down the aisles of Fruit Attraction with her.
Your house is incredibly tidy, as is the office… Would you define this as a virtue or a mania?
It is a mania, like a tidiness ‘TIC’. I am also a fanatical cleaner.
I have been told you even clean your plants.
Looking after them relaxes me. I recycle them, plant them together, transplant them, clean their leaves, talk to them… I have green fingers, but my house gets lots of sunlight and that helps. They don’t die on me, with the exception of one bonsai tree.
I’m sure you have other hobbies, apart from your plants.
I’ve always liked to travel. At 18, backpack on over my shoulder, with just enough money and alone (42 years ago, no less!), I travelled around 8 European countries on an Interail card. Now, it’s not as remarkable, but I assure you that at the time, I didn’t meet any other Spanish women. It was an unforgettable experience, although it also had a dark side to it as I was nearly sexually assaulted by an Iranian in Amsterdam, ending up in a police identity parade.
I haven’t stopped travelling since then. Perhaps that is why I married a geographer. (Laughter). My husband was a Geography Professor at the University of Valencia before he retired; therefore I have a guide at home to prepare our trips.
Reading is my true hobby, because I’ve always been a compulsive reader. My last two books are ‘La Tresse’ by Laetitia Colombani and ‘La Temeraria’ by Isabel San Sebastián. I have just bought Nexus, by Noah Harari, to look at society through the information networks.
Printed newspapers are another of my weaknesses. Although I have subscriptions to several daily digital newspapers, with which I handle my everyday routine, on Sundays I buy three or four newspapers and interior decoration magazines, and I relax with them on the sofa at home.
If you had not been a journalist, what would you have liked to be?
It was always journalism or bust. I only wanted to be a journalist. I listened to the radio night and day. Then, all those who talked on the radio seemed wise. I wanted to be a journalist to carry on learning.
You are a workhorse. You don’t turn your nose up at any job.
Of course not. I started working very young, at 16. There were many opportunities of all kinds. I worked as a catwalk and photo model. But not in the top category, OK? I earned a great deal of money. Before finishing my degree, I worked as a bookseller, a stewardess, a shop assistant – whatever allowed me to earn some money.
At the end of the 1980s, I lived in England and as at that time Spaniards couldn’t get legal work permits, I worked as a waitress, washer-up, shoe seller and au pair in an exclusive Jewish district.
What about your career in journalism?
I was lucky to start working on one of the provincial newspapers in Tenerife, ‘Diario de Avisos’, in my second year at college. I worked there every summer, and they hired me when I finished my degree. I went through the sections on incidents, local politics and sports. I then worked at TVE in the Canary Islands as an editor.
My last job in general media, before devoting my time to the world of agriculture, was on the newspaper ABC, on the parliamentary reports.
Colour is something that characterises you, both in clothing and in accessories. Could I see your collection?
Sure, look! –she says opening a huge cupboard, full of necklaces. I love costume jewellery because it is pure creativity in shapes and colours. In addition to this cupboard I have two carefully ordered drawers of earrings and rings.
Is it true that one day you even competed in bright colours with designer Ágatha Ruiz de la Prada herself?
Yes! We coincided at an event. I remember I was wearing orange, along with a shocking pink hat. And she was wearing a many-coloured dress from her brand. My brother José has a book about colour psychology, which explains how colours define people.
You experienced something with José that affected you greatly.
Yes. He’s the youngest of five brothers and the one I’m closest to. His car accident was one of the worst phases in my life. At that time I was 31 and José was 21. I was in Germany and my brother had his accident in Namibia. I travelled there and he spent a month and a half in a hospital bed until we could return to Spain. Experiences such as this put everything into perspective.
And your best moment?
The birth of my daughter. I have always told her that I loved her even before she was born because I had three miscarriages and in the end I had to resort to assisted reproduction. Even though she’s grown up now, she sends me WhatsApps all the time telling me she loves me, hearts… We have a very close relationship.
Over all these years you must have heard thousands of stories while preparing the Profile of the Month. Are the secrets you keep better than the stories you’ve told?
When you have spent as long working in the sector and you are approachable, you are told many things. We have sobbed our hearts out in some interviews, because people have passionate private lives. But in both personal and professional life, I always respect the off the record remarks.
