- Do you live where you want to live?
- Yes, I like living in the centre, I'm very happy in Carrer de la Canuda. I used to live in Plaça de Sant Josep Oriol, and I'll never have a flat like that again. But I'm a refugee from the street musicians. There are a lot in Ciutat Vella, and it's a difficult problem to deal with, one you're only aware of when you live in the middle of it: it's terrible, even though some musicians are very good, some repeat the same songs every twenty minutes all day long.
- Would you like to move? Why and where to?
- I lived in the Eixample for years. I liked it, but I was always looking for an excuse to come down to Ciutat Vella, until I finally made the move. Since I haven't got a car, my means of transport are the metro and taxis, and from the centre you can get just about anywhere in any direction. Now I don't even think about making a change.
- Do you spend time in your neighbourhood and with your neighbours? Do you have the shops you need nearby (baker's, grocer's, dry cleaner's)?
- I really live in my neighbourhood, and I do all my shopping here. It's one of the big advantages of living in centre: you have everything you need.
- As well as doing your daily shopping (if you do it) do you have places and services for all your needs?
- All of them, without a doubt. If I have a complaint it's that the big companies and brandnames are killing off small business; it's a shame. That's the negative part of the change in the area.
- Do you stroll around your own neighbourhood for pleasure or do you go elsewhere?
- I stroll around my neighbourhood a lot. I have Plaça de la Vila de Madrid a few steps away, the Ramblas and the Raval, with its new rambla, which has the most multicultural atmosphere in the city.
- Which are your favourite cinemas, theatres and clubs?
- I haven't got any favourite cinemas or theatres, I go by what they have on. By the way, today we have theatres all over the city, and I think that's a very good thing: the Nacional at Glòries, the Lliure on Montjuïc. On the other hand, I'm getting old and I quit smoking and drinking some time ago; that makes you see life in a different way. You have friends over, and social evenings have become very laid-back discussion groups. That doesn't mean I never go to out Bikini, to Luz de Gas, or to see something in particular.
- And which are your favourite restaurants, bars and cafés?
- I don't go out to restaurants much, and if I do it's to one of the classics, with grandma's cooking.
- Is there any public area where you like to go, to sit and chat?
- In summer, the beach, I'm a consumer of the beach, a member of Club Barceloneta, I spend hours there. And in winter, taking advantage of our wonderful climate, any outdoor café from the Zúrich on down, especially along the Rambla del Raval. By the way, a friend of mine showed me a fantastic place on Montjuïc, the Caseta del Migdia, very relaxing, with wonderful views, from the romanticism of the park to the hardness and bustle of the port.
- When you have to act as a guide for visitors, where do you take them?
- The Sagrada Família and the Gòtic are unavoidable, besides they ask you to take them there. But since I'm overly academic-minded, I do educational tours, such as Barcelona from its foundations: the Born and the Ribera, giving them the history. And if it's theatre people, for instance, I take them to the Espai Brossa, which is an alternative space, but quite beautiful and remarkable.
- What is the most appropriate, funny or surprising adjective you have heard to describe Barcelona? Which one would you use?
- I plagiarise Segarra or Pla directly: Barcelona is "the great seductress". Visitors tell me that it is endearing, warm, informal...
- Of where, between the sea and Tibidabo, do you have the most memories?
- Plaça del Rei. As a young man I would go there with friends to read poetry. I premiered one of the key works in my life and career there - Hamlet - and I organised a cultural protest there, one that I think is unique: during three months, every Monday, we read poems and plays, in a reflection against the war that Mr Aznar led us into, and I must say that just about everyone in the Barcelona theatre world took part.
- Which is the best place (a park, a café, a seat in the city) to have a romantic date, or to be able to whisper sweet nothings to a loved one?
- The new Ciutadella, which hasn't changed much physically, but which has become a wonderful setting where immigrants of all origins gather, people take their kids out for a stroll, have tea, play games... and everything in a very civilised way.
- What colours or smells, when you see or smell them anywhere in the world, remind you immediately of Barcelona?
- The smell of Barcelona has changed a great deal, and each street smells different. Today, the wealthy areas of the world all smell pretty much alike, and they look more and more alike. And then we have places like El Raval, where you can't tell where you are by the smell, in the Middle East or in Barcelona. On the other hand, with regard to colours there is no doubt: blue, a warm blue, too polluted sometimes, but blue.
- When you have had to leave the city for a while, what have you missed most?
- I try not to miss it, to get acclimated to and enjoy each place as if I were in Barcelona. But I sometimes miss the places that are mine, that are my landmarks.
- Which of the changes that have been made in the city recently are you happiest with?
- The opening up to the sea. I often walk from Barceloneta to Mar Bella, almost to the Besòs, along the seafront, and it is a joy.
- What don't you like, and what would you do to change it?
- I won't be original: that people have made it customary to urinate in the street, I can't stand it. It isn't right that on weekends these streets smell of nothing by piss. It's a violation of the norms of civilised society that we must not tolerate, just as we do not tolerate traffic violations.
- Add anything you would like to say, and that we haven't asked.
- I would like to see us, using all possible means and in all possible ways, encourage people to go to the theatre, and to enjoy themselves in general. We are too serious in this world, and it is so important to enjoy yourself!