The Guinness World Records book is known around the world as the definitive authority on extraordinary achievements. This month, the yearbook arrives again in Spain and contains exclusive pages of Spanish records, proof that the country is also home to heroes of global challenges. One of the highlights is the Toledo athlete Christian López. At 35 years old, he is the Spaniard with the most Guinness records achieved so far. He surpassed 119 records and is waiting for three more to be approved. It all started at the age of 12, when he was diagnosed with diabetes. Instead of becoming discouraged, his illness pushed him to go for more. “Since then, my life has been a search for constant improvement,” says the athlete. One of the most extreme challenges he achieved was to do no less than 18,713 meters up and down the stairs of the Alcázar of Toledo. The challenge? he did it for 24 hours straight.
Alejandro Soler is another stable Spanish figure in the Guinness World Records book. Originally from Alicante, in the last three years he has broken 59 world records. All related to sports. One of his most amazing feats, which appears in the book this year, was achieving the highest number of push-ups on glass bottles: 78 in one minute! “It is a huge satisfaction for me to appear in a book like this,” explains Alejandro Soler. His interest in records began in 2020, during the coronavirus confinement. The first challenge he set himself (bar muscle up with heavier weight) was a success and today he does not plan to stop. Alejandro Soler has already surpassed several of his personal bests. “It is increasingly difficult to advance because the objectives are higher,” explains the athlete. In any case, he is clear that he plans to break a total of one hundred world records.
For those seeking to set Guinness records, the process is rigorous and requires significant commitment. “If someone wants to break a record or any goal, what I would tell them first is to think about whether they really want to do it,” says Alejandro Soler. The Alicante athlete explains that to enter this world it is necessary to put “all the meat on the grill.” However, the global recognition and personal satisfaction that come with achieving a record are unparalleled. For Christian López, the athlete from Toledo, “it is a worldwide recognition that gives a lot of prestige.” López has come to be recognized in other countries such as Germany.
From extreme sports to the most notable achievements in science and culture, the Guinness World Records book offers a window into a world full of feats and curious facts. The thematic axis chosen for this year’s edition is Blue Planet. This section presents diverse content about water on Earth with information about oceans, seas and the strangest creatures that live in them. In addition, the book brings 2,638 new records for all tastes grouped into 8 chapters: human beings, recordology, adventures, history, science and technology, aquatic life, arts and media and sports.
Some of the protagonists are world-known, such as the singer Taylor Swift who managed to be the most listened to artist of the year with 41.13 billion views, or the soccer idol, Lionel Messi, who broke the record for playing the most matches: 26 in 5 world cups. Other characters have gained fame for daring the unprecedented. Tik Tok chefs Nick DiGiovanni (USA) and Lynn David (Japan) had already appeared in other editions for having made the largest chicken nugget (20.96 kg) and the widest sushi roll (2.16 m). This year they teamed up to create the world’s largest glazed donut. The result was an immense pink bun weighing 102.5 kg, weighing practically the same as both chefs combined.
In terms of sales, the Guinness World Records book is doing very well in Spain. Although it is aimed at a children’s audience from 11 or 12 years old, it is still attractive for all ages. “People are curious by nature and what this book does is that, satisfy the curiosity that we all have,” says Francisco Javier Barrera, the book’s editor in Spain. The Planeta publishing house has published the Guinness yearbook since 1998, but no edition has been the same as the previous one. “Both the content and the way of reading the book have evolved,” explains the editor. The latest editions have QR codes on several pages that can be scanned from any phone. Thus, the reader has the possibility of accessing more content such as YouTube videos, Facebook posts or Instagram reels.
As a novelty, this year’s book has a bucket list at the bottom of each page. Under the slogan of “things to do before you die”, this edition has compiled the dreams and ambitions of people around the world and classified them in order of popularity. The list starts at number 100, with activities like riding in a limousine or spotting blue whales in the middle of the ocean. The great surprise will be knowing what is the desire that the greatest number of people in the world share. We won’t know until we reach the end of the book.
