The Cuevas Benítez family, which was rewarded by the Junta de Andalucía for having 15 children, juggles to supply a large family with only the salary of Javier, the father, who is a technical architect. But for them money is not the most important thing, they feel like “some poor thing that God helps” and since “the children come with bread under their arms”, they have no problems.
Belén, the mother and daughter of a family with 18 children, left her Physics degree when she got married in 2021 when she got married and thus began the history of this great family, according to this couple in an interview with the newspaper El Mundo.
Despite the peculiarity of their circumstances, given that in Spain there are only 147 families with 10 children or more, they think that “it is not revolutionary.” “The family has existed for 5,000 years. They are classifying us there. It seems that we are weirdos We are not the only ones. What happens is that in Europe they have changed our water. People do not have children. The population pyramid has been reversed. There is more and more individualism. People relate differently. They are left behind many things that are fundamental”, explains Javier.
Religion plays a fundamental role in this story. Both are catechists from the parish of the Virgen de las Angustias in Granada and say that they belong “to the Neocatechumenal Way. We are open to life. Our family, if we take away God, makes no sense.”
The house works like “a seminar or a barracks” and everything is complicated with a family of 17, even looking for vacation accommodation. When you tell an owner that we are 17, he throws his hands up. We were granted to go to Eurodisney and on that trip we slept in two cabins. This summer we will make a pilgrimage to Lisbon, which celebrates World Youth Day, with the boys. It will be our vacation.”
And day-to-day logistics is also counted in large numbers; between the couple and their children Paloma, Daniel, Miguel, Esther, Rafael, Marcos, Fernando, Lucas, Santiago, Sofía, Elena, José, Alejandro, Alma and Javier consume 5 liters of milk a day. “We do the shopping daily. As we need it. We don’t go to supermarkets to buy for the whole month or the whole week,” explains the father of the family.
“We are poor people whom the Lord helps”, they explain, “Not everything has to be based on money. We have had very good times, in which we could afford everything, and if we have had to eat white rice for a week, It has been done. In the end we have ended up prospering. You push forward and resist. We have not had any financial help. Do you know that saying that says ‘when a child is born, he brings bread under his arm’? Well, we have experienced it. You need so much , and it appears. You need Xs, well, too”.
She, who is 45 years old today, left her career in her twenties and is now in charge of a veritable battalion of children of all ages, the youngest being 14 months. “Belén cooks. It seems that the woman does not work. She does it by giving life. She is happy. It is that now you talk about the woman being at home and it seems that she is with the mop. It is not like that. It is a bad joke. A lie. You see her happy. She is the queen of her house,” warns Javier.
The case of the Cuevas Benítez family came to the media a few weeks ago when the Junta de Andalucía awarded them an award from the Andalusian Families Awards for being “a great exponent of that defense of the family in which they believe and for which the Government is committed of the Junta de Andalucía”.
Since then they have attended the media that have echoed their case, which although it seems normal to them, it does not cease to surprise the bulk of the people.
“We knew that sooner or later it would be our turn. A few years ago some friends received an award. Recognition doesn’t tell us anything. It’s our things, it’s our family and that’s it. We didn’t want to break any records or anything. They were very interested in granting it to us and We accept it. I suppose the Board wants to promote large families. We are already with the media and all these things, which costs us a bit of work”, Javier adds in his conversation with El Mundo.
