"I consider myself a rich person. I have been able to learn from what life has brought me, and choose the paths that have allowed me to fulfill my two great impulses: traveling and telling stories." Elisabeth Anglarill attacks a piece of carrot cake while waiting for the freshly served green tea to cool down a bit, using the morning silence of the Bar to concentrate on the conversation. "When I say I'm rich, I don't mean it economically, I'm a journalist, but in terms of vital richness! Huh?" –she laughs.
Her childhood was spent among books. "My mother and maternal grandmother instilled in me a great love for reading, and my father was a printer, so when my brother and I went to his printing press, we loved driving the forklift and digging through the tons of books that were there." At seven years old, she wrote her first story and the seed of writing fiction was planted in her.
"But my adventurous side pushed me towards journalism, towards a profession that would allow me to travel, get to know, and explain the world." And so it has been. Her journalistic career has encompassed absolutely everything. She has written for newspapers and done radio and a lot of television. She has been a reporter for El escarabajo verde and, for Imprescindibles, she has directed documentaries about Josep Maria Pou, Ricardo Bofill, María Casares, or Colita. She has conducted programs like La quarta paret or Qué animal. She has been deputy director of culture and society content for TVE and has written reports in the form of books such as El Cairo en los zapatos, Aguas compartidas or the collective Periodistas en peligro.
But in all this dizzying career built on travel, chronicles, and current events, in all that vital richness that makes her define herself as an opulent person, there was still an old longing that had been germinating within her since childhood. A dream that had deep roots: in that first story written at seven years old.
Journey to the Depths of Empúries
"During all these years, and intermittently, I wrote stories, but the important stories, the ones I wanted to tell, were the ones I developed through my reports." Elisabeth Anglarill never abandoned the desire to delve into literary fiction, it's just that life was taking her in other directions. Until the time came to pull the proverbial handbrake.
"I had a management position, I was terribly absorbed in my day-to-day life, and there was a moment, about ten years ago, when, due to various circumstances, I realized I was losing my way." She got off that runaway train for three months. She needed to clear her head. "I traveled to Laos and took things easy."
After that sabbatical quarter, she returned to work, but now taking the time to write her first novel, a story of plundering and silences set in the ruins of Empúries between 1912 and 2012. A century of difference in which names change, but not the abuses of power, corruption, and dense administrative silences. What we are and the cracks that our greed leaves in its wake.
After years in a drawer, "and thanks to the pressure exerted by my partner and my friends for me to find a publisher," the work has finally seen the light under the title of Los malos muertos (Siruela). And Elisabeth announces that she is already working on a second part, again starring the investigator Alex Sabell, while premiering on La2 of TVE, her documentary Feminisme 76, quan ens va canviar la vida, about the Catalan Women's Conferences, held in Barcelona half a century ago.
Preserving the Mediterranean essence
"I am from Barcelona with a very urban background," claims the writer and journalist, "although in recent years, and for reasons related to work logistics, my partner and I have moved to Cerdanyola, a few minutes from where we work." Even so, every now and then she comes to the city to enjoy "its cosmopolitanism, its slower pace than other big cities, the sea, its unique mix of architectures."
And she finishes the last sip of tea and the last piece of cake, before stating: "what worries me is how we are losing the city, the fact that there are areas, streets, from which I feel expelled. That's why I like to go to neighborhoods like Sant Andreu, which manage to keep the Mediterranean essence of the city alive."
– If anything keeps this essence alive, it's our culinary offer. Lunchtime is approaching and perhaps we can tempt you with the menu, some tapas, the à la carte, or a combo platter…
Elisabeth Anglarill smiles. Part of what makes her the rich woman she claims to be is trying the cuisines of the places she travels to. And the Bar was not going to be an exception.
"What do you have for the daily menu?" she asks, thinking that if she doesn't get too full, she wouldn't miss out on desserts for anything in the world.