He is sitting in the cafeteria where he has been writing for nearly two years.
Next to him, a copy of his debut feature
De él.
In his hands, an extra long glass of black coffee that is finished while he explains that it has been this favorite drink that has accompanied him in the process of creating
Si te digo que lo haí
(Espasa, 2022).
The toasted, American and decaffeinated liquid has helped clarify his ideas and also his voice, masculine,
until it became the thread of a female voice with which he has woven the story of Elvira, the protagonist of his book. .
To which he has embroidered for months along with other characters throughout 400 pages.
To refine the tone in the first person of the protagonist of his novel,
Jaime de los Santos
(Madrid, 1978)
It has been nourished by the character of artists, family members and female friends.
"During this time I have only read literature written by women,"
reveals the author.
"He went back to Carmen Laforet, to Virginia Woolf, because she needed to have her tone and concerns, which are often not the same as those we men have," he describes.
Over several months, he invented a protagonist with a fate as tragic as her beginning,
marked by the devastated Spain of the 1940s.
The alpha of
Elvira
's life , having been born on the margins of the
Civil War
.
The omega, to see how the years go by leaving gaps and losses between letters and lines.
"Eros and Thanatos are two themes of universal literature. But a woman born in September 1939, what she does is live surrounded by death everywhere", explains the writer.
Trained as an art historian,
Jaime de los Santos
has composed a story to be performed by a bitter and long-suffering soloist.
The choirs and the melody, however, are carried by the artistic soul that accompanies the story.
"In the book you can see my obsession with culture, with books, with the architecture of
Madrid
's heritage and monuments. I wanted it to be a tribute to all that," he describes.
Throughout the novel various artistic references of the author are embodied in the skin of the narrator.
The flow of the story reflects a dying Spain that seeks to walk towards the light of a democracy.
Amidst times of famine, homophobia, sexism and suffering, art will be destroyed in unique hope and beauty.
Opera, painting or theatre, especially García Lorca, will encourage the reader to discover different forms of artistic expression through literature.
Jaime de los Santos in a sessionSANTOS OLIVARES
Currently
the senator
of the PP, Jaime de los Santos has had a political career linked to culture.
In 2012, he was appointed Technical Advisor to the Cabinet of President Mariano Rajoy
.
In 2017, he will be appointed Minister of Culture, Tourism and Sports of the Community of Madrid.
It is during his development in this position that he begins his friendship with
Cristina Cifuentes.
"At the presentation of my book she was sitting between my parents,
She is like a sister," she highlights.
"It saddens me a lot that she does not continue in politics because she is a
brave, energetic, valuable woman, who only knows how to build," she
says.
Within the political sphere, it has always been situated within the orbit of women.
Elvira Fernández
,
wife of Mariano Rajoy, is for him "a putative mother of great warmth and humanity".
According to her criteria, Isabel Díaz Ayuso represents "a strong woman who has come to do great things and who has been a victim of the clichés of machismo."
Currently, de los Santos is recognized as an independent person.
"To those who tell me that it is contradictory that he is from the PP and homosexual, I would recommend reading. The party welcomes people of very different sensitivities," he communicates.
"It is as if I consider that someone on the left cannot be Catholic," he continues.
"I am a man of the center, besides a very convinced militant of the Popular Party"
, he expresses.
"I have liberal ideas, but in everything social I have a very social-democratic sensibility," he says.
After a decade in politics, he says he is proud of having been able to change unfavorable situations.
He also of having had "the opportunity to meet wonderful people", having emerged on occasions beautiful friendships or even some tone
or with a powerful name and surname.
"I have been a seducer, but because I like to feel loved and create beautiful spaces," he says.
"I like to seduce in a good way and to be seduced. I have been seduced by very important men, also some women, but it has never been more", she laughs.
When asked, he leaves it to the imagination who might be considered a powerful flirt.
Obama?
"For Obama he would have left me, he is a great guy and I loved listening to him speak."
Is Pedro Sanchez handsome?
"Physically he's not bad, but I don't like the character he's dressed up as. He has a hard time telling the truth and he's a thug. That takes away his appeal."
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