Los Maxi Pérez, the family saga that has watched over time for 90 years

Neither of them is a watchmaker.

The retired father, an aeronautical engineer, has been a Bosch electronics sales technician for the past 25 years.

The son, a law graduate, is in his twenties as a financial advisor.

His training does not correspond to his profession.

But they have a devotion even further removed from their studies.

"I would be unable to fix a simple alarm clock, let alone a wristwatch," says the second. And the other third: "I would know, but the modern stack, no, because they no longer have machinery." However, they are the only ones capable of maintaining (and understanding)

, which has been running for

. They are the Máximo Pérez, the third generation custodian of the time of Colmenar Viejo.

Third, because the one who tied them to the minutes and hours of the town was

, he himself, a watchmaker by trade. "From the age of 6-7, he went to look for me at school to act as a guide, because he had already lost enough eyesight, and it surprised me that 'we have to go up to the clock, which is ahead', 'which has fallen behind', 'You have to put oil on it.' And that's how I learned, "says

. Like his father, who remembers how, from that privileged view, he also enjoyed as a child contemplating the only two pairs of storks that nested in the town and brought the children from Paris.

Going up and down, practically every day, accompanying Maxi I along the 109 spiral steps that are distant from the clock's machinery, in order to unravel all its bends and secrets.

To be able, without the grandfather, to repair any fault, to

, in the year 2000, during the renovations of the basilica, or to internalize, even, that the seventh step of the second section of the tower "is somewhat higher, be careful when going down".

Maxi I, the grandfather, a watchmaker by profession, in his workshop.

But, above all, to know how to tie time with the skill of the conjurer. Like musical instruments, the clock, "being mechanical, it goes out of adjustment if it is more or less temperature", clarifies

. "The pieces expand, and the hanger, which is the one that marks the seconds, depending on whether it oscillates one or two millimeters, makes, in two or three days, the clock out of square one minute," he crumbles in front of the glazed urn that guards the machinery.

What they do not detail about the millimeter work is that, for those adjustments, they do not use, let's say, a ruler or bevel.

, that sharpening pupil and ear with the precision that their grandfather bequeathed to them. In fact, the second son,

- graduated in Economics, never worked (things of the lineage) and is a journalist - knows how to keep time but putting the brakes on, instead of tuning it to the rhythm like them, since he only works as a watchmaker of urgency in case of illness or travel.

Because when they give you a watch, rather you are the one given, it is that

, that

, said

, that forces you to wind it every day, to obsessively attend the right time.

Although, now, it is only once or twice a week: the original clock in the tower, where Maxi II

as a child, had no more than 24 hours of autonomy.

That one, according to

, at that time

, settled for 87,779 pesetas behind the elevation at kilometer 0, in

, next to

, the largest bell to which the other four were later added. of the chime, at the top of the bell tower, over there

.

Higher up, to the spire studded with gargoyles and feathers,

"Maintaining it is an obligation, but also a personal satisfaction" says, and adds the father, who already shuns the last 44 steps: "We take care of it with a special affection, for the feeling and the memory."

Above, Maxi father, Diego (his nephew) and Maxi son;

below, Ana and Lucas, on New Year's Eve 2000 in the bell tower.

The watch is one of the family. On

, when

was going to

and the chime was disassembled, they decided to go up with Lucas and

-the mother-, and the obligatory champagne, to strike the chimes by hand and eat the grapes there. "We change the century in the heights," laughs the father with the photo of the immortalized moment.

Neither many neighbors can do without the chimes: "They warn you if they see that they are not playing and someone only gets up when after two minutes the sound of the hour is repeated. Only the new ones complain." Although they are "the least", in a town where the Maxis are best known for their

. The father celebrates 50 years as president of the Peña El Rescoldo and the son is a commentator for the Toros de Movistar channel. But that's another story...

Haven't you thought about cutting your ponytail?

"If we do not take care of ourselves, I see complicated who ... In Madrid there are specialists who combine bell maintenance with clocks, but if lightning strikes or the church light is cut off, the clock stops.

"

Before the unknown, a certainty: the fourth generation is on its way.

He will be called Elijah.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

• Madrid

• Colmenar Viejo

Europe, not very receptive to the crusade of Spain and France against the price of electricity

Politics Juan Lobato? Wins?

the primaries of the PSOE of Madrid in endorsements and asks to turn the page against the "model of Tomás Gómez or Sara Hernández"

Unicaja Banco proposes the adjustment of more than 1,500 jobs and the closure of 395 offices

See links of interest

• La Palma news

• Last News

• What

• Holidays 2021

• Holidays Madrid

• 2022 business calendar

• Home THE WORLD TODAY

• Olympiacos Piraeus - Alba Berlin

• Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv - Zalgiris Kaunas

• FC Bayern Munich - Olimpia Milan

• Espanyol - Athletic Club

• Villarreal - Cádiz