Los del Río, a legend in Seville, collected one of the PRE (Pura Raza Española) awards, having recently arrived from Madrid to win another award: on the 30th anniversary of their immortal Macarena, they have been recognized at the GQ Men of the Year Award gala organized by the homonymous magazine. However, something weighs heavily on the memory and spirit of Antonio and Rafael: not having been able to shake the hand of Bill Clinton, who was president of the United States and whom everyone saw dancing Macarena. They were about to do it but someone made a mistake and… the dream was frustrated.
“We gave all the luck in the world to Clinton to win the elections in 96 and we have not had the luck to even shake her hand. We were invited to the Moncloa with Aznar on a visit he made to Spain and the representative we had at that time, who I don’t even want to give his name, didn’t take us. And they were looking for us everywhere! But we are very grateful to Hillary Clinton because she has spoken about Los del Río on many occasions.”
As a result of that visibility, Los del Río became an international phenomenon: they have sung for the Pope (Saint John Paul II, whom they adore), for billionaires from all latitudes, for film artists and for so many kings that in one occasion, it was in Amman against Hussein of Jordan, they only missed the one in drinks, they joke. But they don’t give names, nobility obliges. They admit that they would be delighted to travel to Abu Dhabi to surprise Don Juan Carlos.
As children of the Sevillian town of Dos Hermanas, Antonio and Rafael boast of being cousins, in a nice play on words. But that is not what makes them an absolute exception: from Simon
The couple will live Christmas 2023 as always: pray at Rafael’s house, pray at Antonio’s and on New Year’s Eve they will travel to Madrid to join their close friends from the Fernández Jordá family. Before the nougat, they always offer performances – altruistically, it goes without saying – in asylums and juvenile centers. On Christmas Eve, if the year has gone well, there will be elvers on the table. If it has not been buoyant, “we will put short spaghetti and paint the eyes with a marker.”
Santi Serra, world number 1 in free-range dressage, has attended Sicab this time as a spectator. And the experience has moved him: “We are receiving awards outside of Spain and to finally receive it in your country, at the most important fair in the world dedicated to a single breed and the fourth in general terms, is a source of great pride. Going out to the arena in a buggy was strange, because when we do a show I feel the pressure to perform, make the audience enjoy it and for my artists to also enjoy [referring to the horses] in the middle of the track, but when I went out with the carriage and hearing the entire audience applauding and shouting was a huge push of strength. Seeing that the public appreciates what you are doing gave me goosebumps and brought tears to my eyes. It was wonderful”. Santi will spend Christmas with his best friends, the horses: “On the 25th I will be traveling because I am performing in Belgium and I will be there until the 30th. I will return to Spain and spend New Year’s Eve with my family in Llagostera (Girona). Well, and on the 2nd I’m leaving again, to South Africa.”
Gloria Camila Ortega comes to Seville, her second home, accompanied by David García, soccer player, body combat instructor, English teacher and the boyfriend she needed to be happy: a young man completely alien to the media world and who if he gets –for the first time– before a photocall it is because she has asked him to. She feels safe again after a time away from the sets due to medical prescription. Having completed her studies in Fashion and a master’s degree in Digital Marketing, she is now studying Law at the Antonio Nebrija University. She is already taking advantage of the first part of her training with Bakkus, her online clothing brand:
“We have already done the last test of the sample book with buttons, with everything, and it is already in production. In February we will present the collection and the first week of March the website will begin to operate. “Everything is going to be manufactured in Spain.” He has built this entire project with two partners, his fellow students.
The young woman admits that she returned to television (as a contestant on Nightmare in Paradise) somewhat hastily: “I was already in psychological treatment and when I entered the farm I thought I was more prepared and I was going to clear my head but it turned out that the contest was not It was what I thought. When I left I saw everything that had happened during those two months. It affected me more than necessary and I decided to get away. Also due to medical prescription, she could not go to the debates and do the collaborations that she had signed by contract. After a year I have returned as a collaborator at Espejo Público (Antena 3).” Much of what forced her to go to the psychologist dates back to her earliest childhood, which is why today she affirms that although she wanted to be a biological mother, she would also want to help other children by adopting them as she herself was.
“I’m a bit of a Grinch for Christmas, I imagine because I’m missing a lot of people. As a child I experienced the tradition a lot, putting up the Bethlehem portal, the Christmas tree… My mother was very Christmas-y and we were all a lot of family, now each one goes with a partner or her closest family. And since I don’t live it that much, David put up the Christmas tree for me a month before! I give thanks because I will be with mine, with my father, my brothers, my family. Last year I was with my maternal family: my aunt Gloria, my cousins ??and I spent New Year’s Eve in Seville. “I am changing.”
Joaquín Prat, head of the program Vamos a ver (Telecinco), was also awarded. The presenter confesses that after the end of The AR Program, he misses the company of Ana Rosa, whom he is a teacher and older sister, and politics. “Because he was therapeutic. Talking about politics is therapeutic these days because you pour out all your frustrations: what are these gentlemen who govern the destinies of the Spanish people going to surprise us with? With what new smokescreen to avoid facing the real problems of the Spanish people? With very good audience results, when asked what they like most about their competitors, the answer is a spade in Flanders: “What I like most is that they are behind. I have already tired of humility: I have a great team of young people with a degree of involvement in their work that goes far beyond the professional and I am happy about the successes of the program for my team. Believe me, I have more than covered my ego.”
Joaquín will spend Christmas at the home of his sister and her husband, Alejandra and Juan Manuel Alcaraz. “They are the ones with the biggest house! Alexia and her family are coming from Castellón and last year, although we will not abuse it, we will sleep in a hotel. Alexia’s mother is a super cook and my nephews love baking. This year I am especially excited because since I have shared custody, I have the child one year yes, one year no, I will celebrate Christmas Eve with him, which for me is the real Christmas.”
