“I am close to turning sixty-five and I have a deep sense of vital fulfillment, partly because I feel I still have much to learn and do.” Albert Villanueva has arrived at the Bar at dusk, in time to order an evening beer while Kayleigh, by Marillion, accompanies the conversations of the locals at the bar. “If there’s one thing I’m clear about who I am,” he continues, “it’s that I’m someone who puts tons of passion into everything I do. In work, in my family, in writing.” That passion is what drives his propensity to get involved in a lot of literary, musical, and work-related troubles, but, “without ever stressing myself,” he clarifies before his first sip of beer.
He grew up in a neighborhood on the outskirts of Gavà, with streets still unpaved and a house where there weren't many books. Even so, he perfectly remembers the day he became a lifelong hostage to the love of reading. “It was a Saturday afternoon, when the neighborhood kids would go down to the street to play, after watching the western movie that was on TV. That day I said I wasn't going out, that I was staying home, because I couldn't put down Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians.” Albert was twelve years old and it was the beginning of an addiction.
Books and, a little later, music, became his drug. The elusive nourishment for a perennially hungry spirit. “Soon after is when I started writing short stories and tales, most of which I kept to myself.” And he continued like that for years. “I was going to be a journalist and in the end, in a last-minute swerve, I decided to study Teaching. I don't regret it at all.”
He started working at the Sagrada Família institute in Viladecans as a language teacher, but, always restless, he quickly got involved in IT issues. “I learned and have ended up also taking care of the ICT area.” In parallel, he never stopped dedicating time and (of course) passion to writing. Short stories, tales, small stories and, in between, the skeleton of what would become his debut novel.
Historical memory of the outskirts
Ten years ago, Albert Villanueva began writing some reflections on the educational system, which some colleagues in his profession read. "They encouraged me to give it shape, and from that came the book 'Yo no quiero ir a esta escuela' (I don't want to go to this school), a reasoned critique of the Spanish educational system." That was the trigger. "I decided to resume a novel I had left unfinished." Shortly after, 'Por hacer a tu muerte compañía' (To keep your death company) was published, a historical narrative that delved into that American Lake in Gavà, a leisure park that lasted between 1920 and the Civil War, founded by an abject character named Artur Costa.
"From the beginning, I was clear that, in my books, Gavà would be both a setting and a character in the narratives, and that these would serve to tell historical episodes of the city." A constant that characterizes his three subsequent titles, 'Pactos' (Pacts), 'Rencores' (Resentments), and 'Nunca' (Never), which make up the trilogy starring Inspector Pruna – "a tribute to a 'mosso' friend of mine named Prunera" – and where episodes such as the flood that devastated Gavà in November 1962, or the first strike at the Roca factory in 1976, come to light.
And, after publishing the brief and dystopian 'Protocolo carmesí' (Crimson Protocol), he is now fully immersed in his next project, which has been on his mind for years. "It's a story about war and exile based on Alejandro, a brother of my paternal grandmother who was wounded at the front, left Spain in 1939, and nothing was heard of him again until 1976. I was fourteen when he and my grandmother reunited, and it was the most intense thing I've ever seen in my life. It was the only time I saw my father cry." His great-uncle died in the 80s, but the writer is reconstructing his story, "which will be titled 'Alejandros,' in plural, because there were thousands like him." Historical memory explored with absolute passion.
Sound and literary cartography
In his youth, the local's relationship with Barcelona was that of a boy from the outskirts who, despite living fifteen kilometers away, saw the city as something distant. "I remember the feeling of getting off the train at Passeig de Gràcia and walking down towards Tallers street to buy records or go to bookstores in the center, when it was not yet taken over by tourism that has ended up driving out the Barcelonians."
All of this formed in his head a street map based on music and literature. "More than streets, my urban cartography is made up of concert halls, bookstores, libraries, record stores...". And he continues to visit them, "despite the difficulty of accessing the city, especially when we come at night for a concert and cannot rely on public transport." And he doesn't have time to frown, because immediately, in the background, Jethro Tull's Teacher starts playing and –as president of the band's Spanish fan club– Albert Villanueva cannot help but smile.
–Perhaps, in addition to musical and literary, you might be interested in completing your personal cartography of Barcelona with the gastronomic leg. We have portions, a menu, sandwiches...
Without losing his smile, the writer opts for some tapas. "And very important –he adds–, that there is a good dessert... because my thing with sweets is also a story of passion."