Joan Manuel Serrat has been one of the most important musical artists in the history of Catalonia and Spain. The native of Barcelona carved out a career of almost 60 years on the guitar and on stage, becoming one of the leaders of modern song in both Catalan and Spanish. A work that will be rewarded next October, when he takes over from Meryl Streep as the Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts.
Throughout his career and more than 80 years of life, Serrat has seen and experienced a thousand and one situations, in all areas and of all colors. However, the romantic section is the most symbolic, in which he meets the three women who have marked his life: Marisol, Mercedes Doménech and his current wife, Candela Tiffón, with whom he has been married since 1978 and with whom he had two daughters, Candela and Maria.
Their love story began with disparate lives, with Candela still a minor and Serrat enjoying the peak of his career at 32 years old. Tiffón did work related to the world of fashion and advertising, but when she met Joan Manuel she fell in love. At that time, the singer had already separated from the model Mercedes Doménech, with whom he had had his first child, Quico.
Another romantic adventure even prior to Doménech’s was with the singer Marisol. Both worked together on a song that would become a milestone of its time: Your name tastes like grass to me, a song that Antonio Flores would later also perform. The loves in this life of the artist also turned out to be unrequited, after Marisol’s sister, Lolita, recognized a platonic love for the Catalan.
Although he was also linked to the actress Mónica Randall, it was his relationship with Candela Tiffón that would end up marking and starring in the rest of his life. Both sealed their marriage union in a civil and intimate ceremony held in Camprodon, a small town located in the province of Girona. Even so, the press of the time was aware of what happened, so Joan Manuel had to deny it when he returned from his exile in Mexico.
Candela’s age at that time, 20 years old, was the main obstacle to recognizing the marriage commitment: at that time the age of majority was 21 years old. Despite the circumstances, her marriage has been a solid one that has given the world a journalist and an actress with a long journey and a path ahead.
