This week Xabier Fortes interviewed Anna Banti’s Spanish translator, but they didn’t talk about literature, which is one of his favorite subjects. They were at the Palace, in a special of La Noche en 24h on the TVE news channel, commemorating the night 40 years ago when the PSOE made history and changed history. His performance was a success for Fortes and a TV event because, as is well known, Carmen Romero does not waste this nostalgia. It is therefore a pity that the interview was somewhat spoiled with so many men wearing ties. We wanted to hear more from a voice that was so generous in confessions and seemed so willing to make them.
Romero spoke of the October 28, 1982 hoax and clarified that it was a hoax of mortal fear. There were more than 20 attacks at the time and an attempted coup was dismantled. She talked about the Bodeguilla, conjured up the naïve enthusiasm of the underground, and recalled how she would teach her late-night high school classes with her hair combed because when they were done, she’d run to a state dinner. But when she looked more relaxed, the interview ended. It’s the bane of television with rigid processes, no mercy for the characters who require further conversation. The Fortes special wanted to take us back to 1982, but each time we settled into that year, the script would take a turn and bring us back to the present of the short sentences and fleeting shots. “What that was can continue,” was Romero’s last sentence, almost an aphorism. With a few shots, the director denied. Nothing can stay. Everything slips away quickly and we hardly see what was.
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