2023-07-06 04:43:25
The problem, if it is one, of Ana Prada (Madrid, 1981) is that he does not know how to say no to any professional proposal. «I’m busted!», She admits with her perennial smile while she is microphoned for the talk with ABC after the presentation of the coverage of the Sanfermines on TVE, one of the weeks marked in red by the public entity.
Her experience at street level as a reporter in Valencia in ‘Speaking clear’ as before ‘España Directo’, he has given him a stage that, together with an unparalleled self-confidence, has also allowed him to go through the red carpet of the Goya Awards, the presentation of Las Fallas or the Benidorm Fest. Now he will have to deal with two authentic ‘morlacos’: the ungovernable Julian Iantzi and the expert runner Theo Lazarus.
— For those who don’t know her yet, please introduce yourself: Who is Ana Prada?
— Ana Prada is a reporter who has been on the street for almost 15 years, working abroad, and who occasionally does special beautiful things. I have gone through the Goya, the Benidorm Fest, now the Sanfermines… Many different things, because we not only tell stories and social issues, but sometimes we also do a little entertainment, on pretty TV with a smile. I’ve been doing this for many years, and now it’s time to set and enjoy it. I’m looking forward to doing it.
— We recorded this on a Tuesday: how many kilometers have you done so far this week?
— Not counting those coming to Torrespaña… Only yesterday I did 700 kilometers. But usually a normal week, without being a powerful week, more than 1,000 kilometers to spare. I don’t have a count of how many times I’ve been to the moon in the last ten years (laughs)!
— Do you remember your first time on the air?
— It was on a local TV, Localia Madrid, and my first time live was with Ana Rosa Quintana on Telecinco. Here on TVE the first time was in my beloved Spain Direct, where I have spent ten years of my life, on a plane with four almost improvised direct because we were with a wireless backpack that we did not know if it worked. We were on the air for I don’t know how many minutes… and I almost took the controls of the plane! Everyone raised their hands to their heads, but the pilot was driving.
— Apart from that beautiful TV, you have had to do very hard coverage. What has been the most difficult?
— I have had many, especially those that affect people who have a bad time. The fall of the Spanair plane in Barajas was the first powerful one that I had to cover. We spent days and days in Ifema. And from there… I am in Valencia, and every time the rains come or a DANA you see people who are left homeless and lose everything… It is very complicated. In addition, they are coverage of days or weeks. The DANA of September 2019, for example, we spent four weeks covering floods with people who had been left with nothing, and even in that situation he opens the door of his house and tells you everything. After so many years as a reporter, what amazes me the most is the generosity of the people. Without them, we couldn’t do our job.
Julian Iantzi, Anna Prada and Theo Lazarus RTVE
TVE’s off-road smile
Ana signs up for a bombing. She is her, her day by day: waking up in Valencia, the city that welcomed her ten years ago, and seeing where she should go. It is the same time to talk about the heat of the beaches of Benidorm than about the floods due to the umpteenth DANA that hits the Spanish Levante, who puts on an evening dress to go to the red carpet of the Goyas or a rocker jacket to put the microphone in the Benidorm Fest artists. She is beginning to be one of the most recognizable faces in the public, especially because she knows when and where to display that smile that has accompanied her since she was a child, playing in the square under her parents’ house in Palacios, the small Zamoran village to which who returns to take refuge from time to time. Because she defines herself as a Madrid native of Sanabria, one of those regions of empty Spain that she is in charge of giving voice to, like when she did that report “fixing” chestnuts with her loving parents and her neighbor Ignacia, or showing how traditional soap is made of fox. She has settled in Valencia for a decade, now she has to go to Pamplona.
— Between the Goya, the Benidorm Fest, the Fallas or San Fermín… what do you prefer?
— It’s like choosing between mom and dad! (laughs) I couldn’t say. The Goyas have glamor, the Benidorm Fest has a lot of fun, I adore my Fallas and my cremá because it touches me after 10 years there… And the Sanfermines is emotion and one of the most important devices we have on TVE. I wouldn’t know what to choose, but I always choose the pretty TV with a smile, as I told you before. People have to have fun, and even if we talk about the least pleasant thing that happens in the world, we have to entertain and give them life. There are people who see us from hospitals, who are having a hard time and when they see us on the screen we are their family. Many people see me on the street and say: «Oh, it’s that the Fallas without you…!» And I tell you that I am not from Valencia, that I am from Madrid, but I have been there for so many years… So, returning to your question, since we are dressed in white and with the red scarf, I will say that now I am staying with San Fermin. Anything with RTVE and beautiful, I’ll take it.
— It already happened to you last year and it is likely that it will happen again this year: are you prepared for criticism on the networks?
— Any constructive criticism is welcome. Always. All constructive criticism is great for me because there are always things to improve. Also, there are things we don’t realize and it’s okay to be told. Or even when you have not realized that you have done wrong, it is okay to be told so that you do not do it again and that it does not happen again. We live in a very complicated maelstrom on TV… and there are times when they criticize things that happen for a reason. Everything happens for a reason on television. It is very difficult to be exposed, but we all accept it. Last year at San Fermín we saw that on social networks there were those who loved it and those who didn’t. It was a change of format, very different and with a change of presenters. The legacy that came was complicated because Elena (Sanchez) and Javier (Solano) they are wonderful. We try to make it different. This in the end is a party program. Being in front of a screen… well, it’s easy and we know it’s going to fall. But if it’s constructive, welcome.
— In case there are any doubts: are you a bullfighter?
– I am taurine. I have seen bulls since I was very little on TV. I have always liked them, but I understand anti-bullfighting. Everything is respectable and I understand all points of view. But as Sabina said, I think it was, I understand the anti-bullfighting, but as long as there are still bulls, I will continue going to the bullrings.
— Speaking of bullfights: how are you going to hold the Miura (Julian Inatzi and Teo Lázaro) who will be next to you in these broadcasts of San Fermín on TVE?
— Teo is more bearable, but Julian is… he really is a Miura! (“I’m a saint!” Julian interrupts from the background.) You see? And we haven’t started yet! You have to deal… but we get along very well. We are a pineapple since we met last year. We agree on many things and we help each other a lot, because San Fermín is a giant and we do a live program every day from early morning, we get up at 4 in the morning, and get it out and people have a good time and try not to screw up… And also explain it to those who know what this is about and those who don’t know, or try, and attract people… It’s very difficult, but the three of us help each other. I hold them as I can. Sometimes I pat them on the leg, don’t let anyone get angry, but it’s a matter of time when they tell me through the earpiece to see when it’s our turn. As they say about the Fallas, the San Fermín set is also the best organized chaos in the world.
— You say you are from Madrid, but your origins are in Palacios de Sanabria (Zamora). If she is told that she has to go there to do reporting in town, would she go?
— Well you know that yes, because you are also from there. One of my illusions when I got into this TV thing was to see my area. I was born in Madrid, but at heart I am from Sanabria. I have always been excited to show our area on TV, that our town has 60 people in winter. One of the things I did with España Directo, when I spent some time in Madrid, was to go there with a camera. And I took out a traditional fox soap as it is made there, and the castle of Puebla de Sanabria and the lake, and my family that is still there, and I went with Ignacia, our 80-year-old neighbor, to “fix” chestnuts, because there were no it is caught but manages… And get my area and my people out. It’s still a bit selfish, but our region, the small towns that are running out of people and Empty Spain need a lot of voice. And they have a lot of nice things. I am very proud of the area, so long live Sanabria, long live Zamora, and of course long live Madrid and Valencia.
— And do war reporting? Would you dare?
— No, for my family. They would have a very bad time. And he sees that I get into the ‘fregaos’ that are necessary, but that is big words. War reporters risk their lives, no matter how controlled everything is. Good reporters get into all the nitty-gritty. You are in countries that you do not control, neither the area, nor the speech, nor how people are going to react to you. It’s like going over quicksand all the time. I would not leave because my family would have a very bad time, just because of them.
— Do you see yourself presenting news, like Ana Blanco?
— I already did it, back in 2008, on Localia TV. The first day I was with my nails nailed to the table, not even my voice came out. Who would tell me now… Repeat? I would love it, because I go to everything. But I like entertainment, white shows. Information is key, of course, and in fact now we do a lot of information in ‘Hablando Claro’, with many social, economic, and political issues… But I see myself in entertainment, I have always seen myself on TV with smile.
— This is your second year in San Fermín, so you already know it: would you dare to run a running of the bulls?
— Yes: virtual (laughs). A virtual confinement the same yes. You have to be very brave and control it a lot. There are many confinements throughout Spain throughout the year, in smaller towns but just as dangerous in the middle of the street but with animals just as big and you don’t know how they will react. The runners prepare a lot, Teo (Lázaro) knows it. You have to be very prepared and very brave. I would not dare, I prefer to see them from the sidelines or from the set, which look very good.
— Did you imagine 20 years ago, when you spent the summer in your Palacios, that you would be here?
— I didn’t even imagine that, nor that you would interview me for ABC when you came to my house with a sandwich in a bag for snack! He would never have seen me here because I was going to be a director or a cameraman. He said that he was not going to put me in front because I was ashamed. In the practices of the faculty I did not put myself, because it scared me. Things of fate, I ended up here. Now I tell you that it’s wonderful, but if you ask me… I’m not going to say how many years ago, I don’t think he would see me.
#bullfighting #understand #antibullfighting