For Sonsoles Ónega (Madrid, 45 years old) it has been five years of great and constant change. It was Pedro Piqueras himself who suggested that she go from being a parliamentary correspondent for Telecinco’s news programs to one of the star presenters of the channel’s magazines produced by Ana Rosa Quintana. His much-discussed signing for Antena 3 has created a domino effect not only on the Atresmedia network, but also on Mediaset’s.
This season she appears as a “veteran” in the afternoons, facing Jordi González and his upcoming La plaza on La 1 and Quintana himself with the recently released TardeAR on Telecinco. Ónega continues to collect good data with which to consolidate the slot for Antena 3. She is so integrated into the network that she comes to the interview from the set of the series Amar es para siempre, in which she made a cameo appearance. She plays Tierno Galván’s press officer, dressed like a woman from the eighties.
Questions. What are the strengths of your program?
Answer. Our asset is exclusive content so that the viewer knows that what they find here they won’t find anywhere else. That’s why we have strengthened the investigation and incident teams. And we take advantage of the audience on set. This season we are dedicating another stage to it. I like interacting with people.
This permanent political parliament, this declarative journalism with politicians vomiting phrases and yawning citizens doesn’t interest me at all.
Q They were years full of changes. She seems to be the quiet woman. Did it bother you?
R. I would like to know that I appear to be a calm woman because the nerve is in me… It is true that the professional changes were also of a personal nature. Especially in exciting jobs like ours, one thing goes hand in hand with the other. I don’t live to work, but I admit that I take every opportunity very seriously and am very obsessed.
Q She always pointed out the difficulty of balancing life as a working woman.
R. I don’t want to call it a personal score… although my kids do it anyway. I hope that one day they won’t hold it against me. Both in Congress and in Telecinco, with Ya son las 8, I was used to coming home late. It rains lightly with the family to explain to them that you are not here, but that you are. They are always there for urgent matters, even if a nephew needs to help you take the child to after-school soccer. They say that as children grow older, they begin to recognize the work of their mothers. When I wrote a book about it, I was able to discover that we have all been idiots for centuries. It is a nameless evil among women that must be dealt with as best as possible, because above all, one must not give up.
Q Telecinco commissioned Unicorn Content to air Ya Es Noon, her first experience as a magazine presenter, in less than five days. What was that dizzying jump like?
R. The channel and the production company have this strength because they have a lot of experience in producing programs. It cost me a lot more than it cost them. I’ve never been on a set! Just invited by the books. And once, during an election campaign, Pedro Piqueras took me with him to launch graphics and he never gave in to me… We hardly did any rehearsals for It’s Noon. It had nothing to do with the beginning of the afternoon on Antena 3, where we shot a lot of pilots and explored the set extensively.
I don’t want to call reconciliation a personal reckoning… although my children do it anyway. I hope that one day they won’t hold it against me
Q And how was the transition to Antena 3?
R. It was even more challenging because the network hadn’t had a live afternoon slot in many years. It meant starting from scratch, with a team and a set to build. We have accomplished a lot in a very short period of time. I’m not ashamed to say I had no idea. Over time with the teams, I learned how important the technical part is. It’s been a tough year.
Q It’s just that he comes from work on the street.
R. Clear. I said, “Ask me where to put the camera on the street to cover an investiture.” I’ll give you three in Zorrilla, four in the San Jerónimo race, one at each exit of the House of Representatives… but I had no idea about the set. I still don’t have it. There are many things I learn every day.
Q In And Now, Sonsoles deals with current affairs, hearts and events. Do you still feel most comfortable in politics?
R. I feel comfortable in all situations. I don’t think politics was an area where I felt so comfortable now. Sometimes it forces the communicator to be on the same page. Because of my training in Congress, where I always listened to other people’s arguments, I realized that no one has the absolute truth. So I don’t think a communicator is the one who values it. Through creating magazines, I discovered the value of citizen testimonies. There is always a lesson in people’s lives.
Q So you don’t think journalists should express political ideas in their magazines?
R. Everybody can do what he wants to do. Sometimes I speak out on topics on which one has to have an opinion and express it with a certain vehemence. But this permanent political parliament, this declarative journalism with politicians vomiting phrases and yawning citizens doesn’t interest me at all.
Q What type of social chronicle do you prefer?
R. At Antena 3 we try to create a social chronicle of characters who do things, who role model and teach. For years they have been in the shadow of a different kind of social chronicle, just as respectable but perhaps not as inspiring. I trust a lot of what my mother says and now she is really enjoying the documentary about María Jiménez. As Rubalcaba said: In Spain we bury very well. But there are other personalities who are alive and television has the duty to turn on the loudspeaker, to tell us how they achieved it, how much they suffered, whether they succeeded…
Sonsoles Ónega will face two veterans like Ana Rosa Quintana and Jordi González in the afternoons of Antena 3.Santi Burgos
Q What TV does Sonsoles Ónega watch? Is it the same as what you saw as a parliamentary journalist?
R. Now I’m watching Antena 3 a little longer (laughs). I’m in tune with the rest of the country. However, I also watch the premieres of other channels. I don’t have a reference chain. I watch the 24-hour channel a lot because my sister Cristina works on it.
Q When you signed with Antena 3, were you never offered to inherit the Mornings in the near future?
R. It was never on the table. And it still isn’t. They even talked about the weekend beforehand. Also, I like to put my brain cells on in the morning and I find it difficult to get up early.
Q How did you feel when Terelu Campos told you on her show that María Teresa Campos saw you as her natural successor as Queen of the Morning?
R. It is appreciated, but I do not seek domination. Neither in the morning nor in the afternoon. I am happy with the continued work and the fact that my team is doing the same. From my father [el periodista Fernando Ónega] I learned that once you’re the star presenting the evening news on Antena 3, you’re soon left on the streets. So I believe almost nothing, except every day.
Q If your children wanted to become journalists, would you give them the same advice your father gave you, or have times changed too much?
R. I’m doing something wrong so that my children don’t want to become journalists. Nobody shows interest in my work. They don’t watch the program. Sometimes they learn something because it appears on TikTok! If they wanted to pursue it, I would give them the same advice I got: “Work, work, don’t be lazy, I give you with an open hand.” It’s a long-distance career that is very tiring and often poorly paid . Don’t faint.” So yeah, that would be similar advice.
Q Were you more pleased to win the Lara Prize as a novelist or the Mainat Prize as a television presenter?
R. They’re both very excited, but the thing is, Lara won an award for a particular novel that cost me a lot to write. It was a very complicated plot that I didn’t know if I could construct, and was set in a very specific historical period that I knew nothing about. I had to do a lot of research. The prize brought me back into the literary world, in which, to be honest, I hadn’t had much luck up until that point. I had three novels that didn’t cover advances of 1,000 or 3,000 euros from what little they sold.
Q Do you find time to write?
R. Without writing I am nobody. Recently I lovingly complained that they never ask me about books in interviews. This summer, when I had a week with no kids and no work, I started writing the following.
Q Let’s ask about books. What is your next novel about?
R. It is a historical novel set in Galicia, in search of truth, fate… There are many ingredients that repeat in my novels. It is a story that honors the decades of work of women in Galicia of the Sea.
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