- Do you live where you want to live?
- I have always lived where love has called me, that's why I now live in the village of Eivissa. When I don't have the feeling that the village is calling me, I come to Barcelona, because it has all the enchantment of a lover. In fact, I always have one foot in the city. At the moment I have my refuge in Guinardó, after five years in Carrer de Casp and other long periods in the Eixample.
- Would you like to move? Why and where to?
- Why not? I have already lived in half a dozen different places in this city. One in Ciutat Vella, four in the Eixample, I love flats with high ceilings, interior patios and sunny balconies. Now I am living in Guinardó, much quieter, and the truth is it suits me. The contrast between village life with the family and city life when I go to work isn't as much as when I lived in the centre. The city has many faces, and I like to find them when circumstances allow.
- 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)
- Yes, the truth is that, in general, here I can find all I need. But I don't ask for much. Maybe I miss a restaurant open at night, or a shop run by Pakistani people and open all hours, for when I return from a concert. There are always the biscuits from the petrol station on Passeig de Maragall, on the corner with Antoni Maria Claret, to get rid of hunger pangs.
- As well as doing your daily shopping (if you do it) do you have places and services for all your needs?
- Really, I move about a lot so I don't need to have everything in my neighbourhood. It's always a good excuse to go somewhere else. The city is like a body I like to go over, in the same way that I don't only want one piece of the person I love. This is the way I think about it, and with the help of public transport, it's not difficult to put in practice.
- Do you stroll around your own neighbourhood for pleasure or do you go elsewhere?
- Walking is the way to get to know a place well, and if I have time I can cross the whole city on foot. It's a pleasure to walk down to the sea, without any stress. Walking is also good for the mind.
- Which are your favourite cinemas, theatres and clubs?
- Some of the places in the Gòtic or near the Boqueria for a good cup of tea. Some of the restaurants near my home with home cooking. Cinemas, Verdi or Icària. When I lived in Mallorca on the corner with Enric Granados, I often went to the Casablanca cinemas. If I can, I prefer the original version rather than dubbed films. When it comes to theatres, I am not a fetishist, I go wherever there is something on that interests me.
- And which are your favourite restaurants, bars and cafés?
- The Massip, on Passeig de Maragall, home-made meals. The Ra, behind the Boqueria, juices, herbal teas and a terrace that honours the sun god. The Segundo Acto, by Portaferrissa, a little place to have a drink with colleagues. The Sun Ka, next to the Cathedral, a very good Japanese, within reach. The Central, in the Boqueria, market food and very direct service. The Pastís, by the Rambla, in winter strong emotions in a comfortable corner. The Cangrejo, by the Pastís, to be a little wild well into the night.
- Is there any public area where you like to go, to sit and chat?
- The Ciutadella, the patio of the CCCB, the Roman columns behind the Plaça de Sant Jaume, the roof of the Cathedral when the towers are open.
- When you have to act as a guide for visitors, where do you take them?
- Obviously I start with the Rambla, and from there it depends on the consumer.
- What is the most appropriate, funny or surprising adjective you have heard to describe Barcelona? Which one would you use?
- A little more than a year ago, an Italian friend who came here after a long stay in the USA for a musical project, told me that Barcelona today made her think of New York in the 80s. Particularly the cultural turbulence. For me, quite simply, Barcelona is a woman, and more, a beautiful dark-haired one.
- Of where, between the sea and Tibidabo, do you have the most memories?
- The Verneda and Horta, for my childhood stay in my cousins' home. The Gòtic, for friends and dreams come true.
- 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 towers of the Sagrada Família and Parc Güell, always watched over by the visions of Gaudí.
- What colours or smells, when you see or smell them anywhere in the world, remind you immediately of Barcelona?
- The smell that França station used to have, when it was the main Barcelona railway station, a mix of tobacco, scrap iron, and a thousand other things which I couldn't identify. And the colour, of course, scarlet and blue stripes.
- When you have had to leave the city for a while, what have you missed most?
- The light and the life in the street, as well as the cultural events.
- Which of the changes that have been made in the city recently are you happiest with?
- The speed controls on the routes in and out of the city and on the bypasses.
- What don't you like, and what would you do to change it?
- The Àrea verde parking zones. I don't think it is the best way to solve the parking problem. If you make demands, you must offer solutions.
- Add anything you would like to say, and that we haven't asked.
- Barcelona has the potential to be much more and to have much more weight than it has. I would say, overall, it is under-valued. We often have a certain provincialism, overall cultural. It seems like only the most extreme are able to represent us. If, in the 80s, Madrid was able to become the centre of everything, with groups which had more of an attitude than artistic talent, why haven't we been able to do it here, with more talent around?