David Cantero (62) is one of the most respected journalists on television. Since 2010 he has been in charge of Telecinco’s midday newscasts and before on TVE he presented the various editions of the Newscast, he was a correspondent in Rome, a presenter for Telesur in the territorial center of Andalusia and a reporter… a long career of 40 years as a journalist who celebrated a month ago.
But Cantero defines himself above all as a father: “Above all I am a father. I enjoy every day with it. I am a very committed father ”, he confesses to this newspaper. He has three children: Álvaro (1990), from his first wife Carmen Berro, and Adriano (2004) and Alejandro (2006), from his relationship with Berta Caballero, his second and current wife.
Álvaro is a journalist like him, but uses his mother’s last name. In addition to their profession, father and son share weekend hobbies: walks in the countryside, barbecues and evenings in front of the fireplace.
“I get along very well with my three children,” explains Cantero, “but the two little ones are still teenagers and with Álvaro I now have a man-to-man relationship.” And he adds between laughs: “From giving him the bottle I have gone on to share a whiskey.” Because they both enjoyed for the first time a few days ago an experience devised by the Dyc distilleries, in Segovia, to celebrate Father’s Day, which consists of a visit to the wineries in Palazuelos de Eresma and a meal at the José Luis restaurant, in Segovia. .
Father and son have always had an excellent relationship and not only now because of their age. “My father has always taught me to enjoy basic things,” explains Álvaro Berro. And since I was little, he has spoken to me like an adult and not like a fool, which is how children are sometimes spoken to ”. Cantero intervenes: “I think sometimes children or adolescents are treated as idiots or inferior beings and they give us a thousand turns on many things.” And he confesses that a few hours after he was born, Álvaro took him to a room and gave him a speech about the meaning of life and the world he had come to.
As a child, Álvaro played with his father’s cameras and microphones, he also accompanied him to press conferences, he even hid under the table on the set while his father presented the news in Andalusia. It is not surprising that when he grew up he also wanted to be a journalist. He has always given me a strange feeling when they have told me “your father is the one on TV, because for me he is my father, not the one on TV,” says his son.
He started working at Mediaset “by his own means, because he is a guy who knows how to make a living,” says his father, who has sometimes felt annoyed when they have talked about plugging. And Álvaro says that “a lot is also expected of you for being the son of David Cantero”. Perhaps for this reason his father would have preferred that he had been an airplane pilot like his grandfather.
The presenter remembers the first time he gave way to his son in a connection from the DGT: “It was something that made me proud and moved me at the same time.” And his daughter comments: “It was also weird because I addressed him as David.” And that situation was repeated more times. “In the newsroom I spontaneously gave him a kiss, or asked him for a euro for the coffee machine or sometimes when he had a contracture I asked him for a massage. And all this was disconcerting at first to those who were unaware of our relationship,” recalls David Cantero.
Álvaro ended his contract with Mediaset and is now working on a new television project in Seville. The other two children of the presenter do not seem to be going to follow in the footsteps of his father in journalism or his grandfather in aviation. Adriano studies musical composition and Alejandro wants to dedicate himself to graphic design. Music and drawing, precisely two of David Cantero’s hobbies.
The Telecinco presenter shares his passion for motorcycles with his eldest son: “I’ve been a biker since I was a child, but Álvaro became fond of it later. We love that feeling of freedom and going on weekend routes visiting towns”, explains Cantero. And his son points out: “When we go together I look like the grandfather of both of us, because I have a 125 cc, but unlike him I ride it every day in Madrid even if it rains or is cold. I dress up as an astronaut and that’s it.” And his father comments: “Well, I’m old enough and on cold days I go to work by car despite the traffic jams.”
The only thing they don’t share is pets. David Cantero has a dog and his son Álvaro Berro has two cats: “They are my granddaughters, but they don’t pay attention to me. They are a bit unfriendly”, jokes the presenter.
Facing the future, David Cantero is clear: “I only want to be allowed to see my three sons become men, good people, humble and that they have managed to work and develop in what makes them happy.”
Finally, David Canteró spoke of the relationship he had with his own father: “Excellent, until the end, which was very hard due to Alzheimer’s.” “I met him when I was 5 years old, because when I was born he went to work in the Belgian Congo as an airplane pilot and we talked on the phone and he sent me wonderful postcards in which he told me how much he loved me. And after he came back from that mission well he became my hero and my friend. He was extraordinary.”
