Catalina and Esmeralda (Madrid 2020) are two sisters who came to their family at the right time. Although they were newborns, they were a balm for a family that welcomed them and gave them the best they had: their home.
Since their arrival, they have become a fundamental part of the lives of Elena and Pepe Viyuela (Logroño 1963).
Do you know Pepe? I present it to you.
By profession, he is an actor and clown. In fact, he has been president of the NGO “Clowns Without Borders” for many years, where he still continues to collaborate. Like actor? Buff… We can be reviewing his career for hours and hours… Let’s see; For 237 episodes he gave life to Chema in the legendary series Aída. We have seen him in El Milagro de P. Tinto by Javier Fesser, playing Filemón Pi in La Gran Aventura de Mortadelo y Filemón also by Fesser, in dozens of television programs and plays such as Rinoceronte, for which he received the Max Prize for best actor… I can continue if you want! But we must remember that the “protas”, here, are those two sisters who, by the way!, are cats.
Catalina, Esmeralda, Pepe…
How are you?
He laughs and says, on their behalf, “Meow, meow, meow!”
We are very good. They have told me: “Meow, meow, meow, meow,” which translated must mean that we speak well of ourselves. I have told them that it cannot be any other way and they have remained calm.
Pepe… How did Catalina and Esmeralda come into your life?
They arrived at a particularly sad time because Elena’s mother, my partner, had just died a couple of months ago. So, well, every time we lose a loved one, and especially when it is a mother, we are quite affected. Our children saw this situation and thought it would be nice to fill the house with some life, since it had been marked by the pain that the loss of a loved one always leaves. They consulted me and asked me: “Do you think that mom would benefit from or would like to include an animal in her life, and specifically a cat?” because my son has been crazy about cats for a long time. He dedicates himself to collecting them, curing them and observing them, since he usually finds them in poor conditions and then takes them into his house or looks for another place for them. I told her: “Let me check it out, because it is a delicate situation,” and probing the conversation, Elena at one point confessed to me: “Yes, the truth is that I think a cat would help me a lot to overcome this.” So I told them: “Well, go ahead.”
I called my daughter and told her they could come. Two days before her arrival, she called me again and said: “Look, Dad, it turns out that the kitten we are going to take has a sister and she is going to be left alone if we take this one. They ask me at the association if we can take both of them for a week and then one of them will leave.” Then I told her: “Look, daughter, if two come in, she will not be left alone.” Because, after a week, even after a minute after seeing them, who do you decide to keep? Decided; We will have two cats. So the two of them came, they were puppies and must have been about a month and a half old. Indeed, once they arrived here, it was an explosion of joy, of life, of love, of affection. Their eyes, how they look, how they relate, how they began to connect with us and, above all, how that pain began to become something else… It is not in vain that animals have this name, animals, and animal contains the concept. of soul, of soul.
To everything that surrounds them they add a halo of life, of elevation. Animals are much more than mere beasts. Perhaps we, human beings, are more beasts than them. And since Catalina and Esmeralda have been here, it has been four years, because I have also been falling in love with them in a brutal way. It is a real learning experience. There is something about the behavior of cats when they look at you, when they sleep, when they relate to things, that makes you ask yourself how you do that in your life. The stress we live with, the lack of reflection, the excess of attention to banal things… It happens to me that sometimes I am working here, or in another part of the house, and they require affection. They start by headbutting you, they meow and I have the first intention of getting angry, of saying: “I have to work, please, get out!” But, suddenly, I stop and say: “Maybe I have to listen to this, right?” and then, I pick them up, I caress them a little, I talk to them and after ten minutes or less, they leave because they already have what they wanted, which is a little affection. I wonder if they want that affection for themselves or for me.
Surely their intuition does not fail and they want you to stop going down that path of stress…
Exact. Sometimes I think about it. When you are very nervous, they usually leave. I mean, at a certain moment when something happens to you, you drop something and you raise your voice, they disappear. Because they are very intelligent. They know that it is not the time to intervene. They leave and after a while they return. Sometimes, I have even accidentally stepped on their tail or paw because they get in the way, and, of course, they meow loudly and leave.
I immediately look for them to tell them: “I didn’t want to hurt you”, I approach them to pet them and they stay calm. Yes, there is an intuitive relationship, which I think has a lot to do with gesture and body expression. When they see that you are nervous, they intervene or disappear, as if saying: “Better leave it for another time,” or they appear to calm you down. Well, I don’t know. I think this is only understood well when you live with an animal.
From what you say… Who adopts who?
Pepe laughs, thinking carefully about what to answer because, although it may sound obvious, it is not so obvious…
I think that when we talk about “who you live with” and “who is whose pet,” there comes a time when you realize that the house is more theirs than yours. Because they rarely abandon it. Sometimes we go for a walk in a park next door and I put a leash on them so they can get some air and so on, but that’s the only time they leave the house. They may or may not be waiting, you simply arrive, they come and greet you.
But the house is theirs, it is their territory, their living space and they share it with you. I think that if these cats suddenly changed their attitude and wanted to throw us out of the house, it would be very difficult and a war for territory would break out. They accept that this space is good for them, they are fed, they are protected, they know they are loved, but the concept within them is surely that, “this is my space and I share it with you because we get along well.”
As you said, it was your children, Samuel and Camila, who welcomed them, for you… Why cats? Had they had them as children?
Samuel, being very little, he was six years old, came from the street with a kitten, a puppy in his hands. He had been with a girl who had several, because he had found a litter, and he brought home the one we named Nicolás. He was with us for 14 years, his entire life, and he had a special bond with Samuel, I guess because he had brought him home. In fact, I remember, perhaps also because the children at that time were small, that I was more with my “puppies” than with that cat puppy. So, I paid less attention to it than now that my children no longer live at home. Nicolás marked an entire era at home and Samuel’s entire life because, since then, he has remained closely linked to the cat world.
We read about cat behavior, interact with them and learn a lot. Today, Samuel has three in his house. One of the cats was very sick when she went to pick her up. She had lost an eye due to illness, she was malnourished… Well, in fact, they gave her to her and told her that she probably wouldn’t last more than a week. That was about three or four years ago and it’s still there. Her name is Catame.
They say that the relationship is different from that usually established with other animal species… What is yours?
Well, it’s a relationship… The word “pet” doesn’t seem derogatory to me, but I think it falls very short. I would talk about roommates, not to say that they are family; We share the territory. We also try to do it in the best possible way, we respect each other. The truth is that there is no specific space for them. They are all over the house. In fact, if you opened the door now, they would enter right away because the house is yours. We do not close doors to prevent them from entering certain rooms. Here, in the work room, the papers are on the table and we are not afraid of them being spoiled. They have never done anything.
Let’s see, sometimes they have broken a vase because they have climbed on a piece of furniture and unintentionally hit it, but they are very skillful and respectful. So, we don’t close any space; They even sleep with us, they come to the bed and stand at the feet or get into the sheets… They are, I would say, the absolute owners. There is a very horizontal relationship. We do not feel superior to cats, we do not look at them from that superiority that often characterizes human beings and that says: “I am more intelligent than you”, “I am more capable of many things than you”, because they are capable of many things. things that human beings cannot achieve.
Seeing how Pepe shares that feeling of horizontality with Catalina and Esmeralda is a true lesson in humility between species that I wish we could incorporate, with this naturalness, in different aspects of life. I’m not just talking about animals. As a designer friend of mine says: “Prejudices are a sign of ignorance.” (Pepe continues).
That intuition… Look, a year after they arrived, my mother died. That day, they realized that something had happened. I don’t know if it was due to that energy that goes out in someone’s body or to the alteration they see in others, but they radically changed their attitude and went somewhere else so as not to disturb, so as not to be there.
There are moments when one realizes that they intuit, that they feel, that they perceive. That is to say, we no longer have that superiority that I was talking about with them because they are colleagues. We also try to respect their spaces and not bother them too much, we don’t even play the music very loud… There will be people who may find this corny or stupid, but a very nice relationship is really established with the cats. And I don’t think it’s a question of human stupidity, but rather human stupidity is rather considering inferior beings. They are beings that are on another perceptual level, different, but not inferior. They are different. They don’t talk like you and I do now, but they can communicate. It is understood by the way they meow, if they are afraid, if they are happy, if they are asking you for something… it is understood.
By the way… Why Catalina and Esmeralda?
Well, the cats were a gift, a present that, mind you, that already turns them into objects in some way and it’s not pretty. But well, it was for Elena, as a way to help in her emotional reconstruction after the death of her mother. She is also an actress and had recently played two women who had those names and who, in addition, were both queens: Catherine of Aragon and Esmeralda, the imaginary queen of a play by Alfredo Sanzol called “La Ternura.” So we named them Catalina and Esmeralda because, somehow, we also realized that they were going to become the queens of the house.
It is known that cats are very spiritual beings… If we take a look at Egyptian mythology, we find Bastet, a goddess whose mission is to protect the home and who is considered the deity of harmony and happiness… What sensations do they transmit to you?
Well, of constant welcome and affection. When I return home, they are the first to come running to the door to meow and rub themselves, waiting for a pet. They greet me, they welcome me… they know it’s me before I open the door because, when someone who is not part of the family comes, they don’t go so directly but wait a little until they see who is coming. They are the souls, the animals. The house is never empty of life because, although there are plants too, animal life has a beating heart. It may seem a little cheesy, but they are the heart of the house. When I have a bad moment, because I have just finished doing something I don’t like, or I have received bad news, I just look at them so that negative energy disappears.
In those moments, I tell them “It’s not a big deal, right Catalina?” or “it’s not that big of a deal Esmeralda… Come on, nothing’s wrong, let’s move on.” When it is the other way around, when something happy, beautiful, beautiful happens, I like that they are there to share it even though they are not very fond of caresses. They choose the moment when they want to be caressed. In fact, for example, Esmeralda only enters or climbs into bed when we turn off the light. I do not know why. Then, as soon as dawn breaks, she leaves. She is a cat who becomes especially affectionate at night. On the other hand, Catalina is radically different from Esmeralda because, despite being her sisters, she is vital, enormously mischievous, and does not stop for a moment, while her sister is much more thoughtful and much calmer. To me, what they fundamentally bring me is calm and a life full of affection, welcome and kindness. They have a natural kindness from which one has a lot to learn. They are not spiteful and if they don’t like someone, they don’t attack them either. They avoid conflict.
You and I were talking the other day about the amount of things we have to learn from animals… The greatest lesson?
The first one that comes to mind is relativization. I mean, nothing is that big of a deal. Neither the good is so good, nor the bad is so bad. You have to live in moderation, in a space where you don’t get carried away by despair. You have to try it. When it seems like things couldn’t get any worse, they teach you to say “you’re not that bad, let’s put it into perspective,” or when something is going very well for you, “well, don’t overdo it because this is going to be temporary.” Let’s move within that space, that strip of calm, harmony, the absence of peaks.
They are always, or almost always, in a state of laxity, of tranquility, except when there is some loud noise in the street, although they do not get hysterical either, they simply hide and protect themselves. Maybe it’s also because terrible things don’t happen in this house, fortunately, and surely, if someone came to harm them, they would defend themselves very well. They neither get sad nor go crazy when they have a wonderful meal, nor when a moment of happiness comes because you are going to take them out on the street. They contain pain and joy by practicing a very healthy stoicism. I have been taught it as a life concept, but I have not reached that level of application. I wish! but no, no. I am, at times, quite emotional… I can get angry or extremely happy with depending on what, saying “it’s wonderful!”
Pepe… You are a family of actors. Both Elena, like your children, like you… What role do they have?
Well, I think that at home, at least, they are playwrights. They write.
We laugh at the same time because I have the feeling that this play, starring Pepe Viyuela and Elena González, is written and directed by Catalina and Esmeralda.
They write for us and also direct us. They are great directors! They mark us… “Don’t overact, don’t overact!” “Let’s see, calm down, it’s not that big of a deal”, “Think about it carefully”. Yes, I believe that they write the works for us, especially the domestic ones. Everything that has to do with our relationship at home and they direct us very well.
Yours is a profession that, generally, the better things go for you, the further away you are from home… To what extent do you miss them? And them to you?
Very, very much, because they are part of my daily life. When I sleep in a hotel, I remember that they are not going to come and lie on the bed. When I open the door, no one comes to greet me, and then the phone is constantly on, reminding me that I have cats because images appear or I search for photos of them directly to take a look. Also, when I call home, I always ask “how are the cats? What are they doing?” Well, I’m saying that they are part of the family.
Pepe… Life is stages… You are a well-known person; Most people know who Pepe Viyuela is, they stop you on the street or approach you in establishments like La Mallorquina, in Puerta del Sol, but… When you are left alone with them, Catalina and Esmeralda… Who are you?
We laughed heartily because I didn’t give the example of La Mallorquina, in Sol, by chance… Wearing a brown argyle sweater, Pepe was sitting at a table on the upper floor of the establishment. He had just politely asked the waiter and started taking notes in a notebook about a book he was reading when… Do you know who approached him? Then I’ll tell you…
I’m still wondering… I think we are, as you say, Edu, multidisciplinary or multirelational. Let me explain: depending on who we are with, we behave in one way or another. We are not the same with a baby as with an adult; You behave differently and with people, the same thing happens. The energy that these people transmit to you makes you relate to them in a certain way. The social position… That is, if you think, for example, of a royal reception, all the people who pass by the kisser behave with absolute rigidity because the circumstances demand it. That, taken to other areas, makes it evident, if we self-analyze and are honest, that we are different at every moment and depending on who we relate to.
Well, with animals, with cats, I don’t have to pretend anything. I don’t have to appear snotty, be especially nice, nor do I have to be loving just for the sake of it. I arrive and I can even verbalize something that I have not been able to verbalize on the street with people, that is, I am finally home, and it is not that I usually practice it, but I can even make a comment to them. Tell them, “this day sucked,” or “what a wonderful day I had.” With cats I don’t need to pretend, I take off all possible masks and I am just another animal. I can sit down, put on some music and do whatever I want, because they’re not going to judge me. Personally, with animals, with cats, I don’t feel judged and with the rest of the world, I do. People judge you by how you behave and then they will pass judgment on you. Since I don’t feel judged, I think I’m the most authentic Pepe when I’m alone with them, when I don’t have to pretend anything.
How has your life changed since you arrived?
Yes, in many things, yes, it has changed. Since they arrived they changed our lives. It was like a gentle gale that, although it may seem contradictory, was like a caressing air. I have already commented on the circumstances under which they arrived and they did so, taking with them a lot of sadness and pain. I already believe it changed our lives! At that time, I was not so aware or so open to the relationship with animals and now I am. They have changed everything for the better.
No two cats, dogs, people, or even moles are the same… Each being is different… We are going to take advantage of your profession to establish parallels… Separately. In the movies or on TV, by character, what characters would be Catalina and Esmeralda?
Well, they remind me… They could be heroines. Heroines in the best sense of the word. Beings that appear when you need them most and from whom you ask for help. It has a lot to do with the concept of divinity that you have applied before. Well, yes, it could be a kind of “Superwoman” or “Supercats” that helps you at the right moment. I see them as superheroes in some action movie or, they could also be the protagonists of a romantic one.
This is common to all species… Complete the sentence: The time I screwed up with them was…
The time I screwed up with them was when we put them in a car to take them somewhere else. They got very angry. I didn’t understand what it meant to them when I took them out of the house, put them in a carrier… They got very nervous. I didn’t know how to put myself in their shoes in that case. We screwed up, especially because Catalina got very nervous and was very scared. I unintentionally screwed up that day, but it hasn’t happened again. Since that day we have not made them travel again because, well, maybe we should educate them to travel, but we have preferred not to make them go through that drink ever again. So that?
Pepe… You are an assertive person, you seem super sensible, close, conciliatory but… Have you gotten angry with them?
I have sometimes gotten angry when I have hurt them, let’s say because of them, that is, when I am rushing around the house and suddenly they get between their legs and I step on their paw. Of course, I go in a hurry, I step on it and I tell them, “damn, Catalina, or Esmeralda, if you’re going where you are”… and then I think, what an idiot I am, yes, he’s not going to understand anything at all…
Sometimes when you accidentally step on an animal, it hurts yourself more. That’s what you see on Pepe’s face when he says that he stepped on his paw. She hurt him more than the cat.
Did you have a pet as a child?
No, well… My parents’ house was very small and they didn’t want to have dogs or cats. Yes, we had a pigeon that my father brought and that lived with us. He left and came back. It was a very beautiful relationship, yes. He had a box inside the house in which he slept and also had his space to eat. During the day, he would leave and I remember that, the first time he did it, we thought he was gone forever, but the afternoon of that same day, we saw him on a nearby rooftop looking for our house. He had gotten disoriented, but he recognized us and it was very nice because he didn’t get lost again.
What has been the most important moment that you remember that you have shared with them?
The death of my mother. That moment was… Well, then also the birth of the granddaughter, when the granddaughter came home for the first time and we showed them the baby, the new puppy in the pack… It was nice to see how they smelled her and felt They missed it, they didn’t understand it very well. It took them a few days to accept her, I don’t know what it could be, maybe it was jealousy or strangeness, but even Catalina at some point came to snort at her and left but, well, today, she is the human puppy of the tribe. I think those are the most beautiful moments we have shared.
Pepe… Tell me a secret of yours… Something that is only between Catalina, Esmeralda and you…
Well, sometimes I confess to them that I have more affection for them than many human beings, and I don’t usually say that much outside… but they deserve much more respect from me than certain individuals. I can give you the example of Netanyahu, who seems to me to be outside, even, animality and rationality. He is a real monster. So, when you have in front of or in your head those human beings that horrify you and you look at them, you say, “I think… I love you more than those types of human beings that do so much harm.” Well, that It’s a secret that, I already tell you that sometimes I tell them, “how nice you are and how disgusting or disgusting this human being is,” I tell them Well, now we are in a media and I say it with everyone. reservations. Human beings fascinate me and deserve wonderful respect. But there are certain human beings who are… very despicable.
After spending this wonderful time with Pepe, we stayed chatting about several other things. One of them has to do with something that I have told you that I would reveal at the end… Who approached Pepe in the Mallorquina?… Well, the truth is that it was me, who is writing these words. I can assure you that I have rarely met someone as kind, close and considerate as Pepe Viyuela. Furthermore, he had a wonderful gesture with a person who, from a very young age, has followed and admired him but well… That’s another story.
