Celebratio Vitae

I want to show the character that, whether we like it or not, makes us who we are as individuals and as a nation, and enables us to move from one situation to another without inhibition.

I enter small towns and neighbourhoods and mingle with their people, who, despite their frustrations, try to lead normal lives. Unpretentious, uninhibited people living the lives they have been given.

Forgotten realities.

What are Spaniards like? How do we live? What do we think of ourselves, and how do others see us? These are the key questions I seek to answer through this series.

We are expressive, humorous, enthusiastic, full of life, temperamental, passionate, noisy, colourful, traditionalist, sociable…

We have opinions on everything while knowing nothing. We like celebrations, bar culture, voting for the wrong team and criticising the winner, putting the world to rights and laughing at our weaknesses; we have a great capacity for self-parody. Spaniards set their problems aside and change their mindset in a second without forgetting their responsibilities. We live every moment fully. It is a way of defending ourselves so we can keep going.

Beyond all this, Spain is a contradictory country: most people have no defined religious belief, yet will not give up Holy Week or patron-saint festivals; it is modern, yet dresses in regional costumes; it opposes animal cruelty, yet animals often feature in its celebrations…

Spain is more than a country: it is a way of life.

It is sheer vitality and passion for life, and its life can never be accused of being boring.

It is addictive.