- Do you live where you want to live?
- Yes, I live where I want to. I am a Barcelona townie, who, from Monday to Friday, adores life in the city, although at the weekend I try to breathe more mountain air.
- Would you like to move? Why and where to? 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)?
- My neighbourhood is fantastic. There is everything, it has the neighbourhood touch, there are small shops, medium and large shops, as well as a big commercial centre. I can put on trainers and go to the corner to buy something I've forgotten; and I know the majority of the shopkeepers by name.
- As well as doing your daily shopping (if you do it) do you have places and services for all your needs?
- In this sense, my neighbourhood is privileged. Practically everything you need is a few minutes away from home. We even have a small workshop for restoration of antique furniture where they work with authentic know-how.
- Do you stroll around your own neighbourhood for pleasure or do you go elsewhere?
- I walk around Barcelona a lot. I love the Passeig de Gràcia and the Rambla de Catalunya, even though I spend a lot of time in my own neighbourhood. You get home from work, park the car, and you are at home... from there you want to go out for a walk.
- Which are your favourite cinemas, theatres and clubs?
- The nearest cinemas, those of Cinesa Diagonal, are those I go to most. When it comes to theatres, any one which has a play that interests me. Night clubs? None. Children and age change your life. My nights of "Oto" or "Up&Down" ended more than a decade ago. And I don't miss them.
- And which are your favourite restaurants, bars and cafés?
- I like good restaurants, exquisite and well decorated (such as Vía Venetto, Neichel, Principal), as much as small restaurants with home-made meals, made with love, such as the Bar Antic in Les Corts.
- Is there any public area where you like to go, to sit and chat?
- The Plaça de la Concòrdia and the municipal centre of Can Deu. It is a very pleasant place, economical and full of little children playing with a ball.
- When you have to act as a guide for visitors, where do you take them?
- Particularly to the Barcelona which has been opened up to the sea since 92. And the Modernist route, of course.
- Of where, between the sea and Tibidabo, do you have the most memories?
- I can't choose. Barcelona is the stage where I have lived all my life. I arrived here when I was three, I grew up here, studied, fell in love, have been on the radio and television... I have never been away from its streets for more than thirty consecutive days. Perhaps if I had to name a place where I have lived many intense hours, this would be the patio in my Faculty in the Plaça Universitat.
- 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 terrace of the Pedrera, without people, of course; the breakwater on the coast; or the Mirador of Tibidabo.
- Which of the changes that have been made in the city recently are you happiest with?
- The most spectacular is the recovery of the sea, the beaches, the port, Barceloneta... The entire Barcelona coast, whose existence was only a legend when I was little, has become a reality. It is something that every one in Barcelona can enjoy, and where we all mingle and get mixed up together. That's to say, a real public place.
- What don't you like, and what would you do to change it?
- The state of Montjuïc saddens me. I'm from Poble-sec and I have spent many afternoons in spring and summer walking round the gardens of the Font del Gat and all over Montjuïc. The decline and neglect of the mountain hurts me, and I don't understand it. I don't understand the municipal apathy in the face of this problem.
- Add anything you would like to say, and that we haven't asked.
- I am proud of my city. It isn't perfect, it has its black spots, but you only need to go to Madrid to see that the quality of life in our city is higher.