1 00:00:26,068 --> 00:00:28,588 -In all artistic work, 2 00:00:29,168 --> 00:00:32,248 intuition is of great importance. 3 00:00:32,858 --> 00:00:36,218 When I'm asked to draw Camba or any other 4 00:00:39,248 --> 00:00:44,128 I choose a certain line, I don't do it reflexively. 5 00:00:45,728 --> 00:00:50,308 Then, I reflexively accept or reject it. 6 00:00:52,238 --> 00:00:55,588 That's intuition. Intuition in art is essential. 7 00:01:00,538 --> 00:01:03,378 The cartoonist has to take 8 00:01:03,548 --> 00:01:06,568 what is expressive in the face 9 00:01:06,628 --> 00:01:09,518 or a person's facial features. 10 00:01:09,588 --> 00:01:12,038 Ok, so Camba works like this. 11 00:01:12,088 --> 00:01:14,538 He acts a cartoonist, he exaggerates. 12 00:01:14,858 --> 00:01:18,898 What does he exaggerate? He exaggerates the expression. 13 00:01:18,968 --> 00:01:23,788 And he emphasises those little things 14 00:01:24,208 --> 00:01:28,098 which will allow him to write the article. 15 00:01:28,548 --> 00:01:33,008 And we are also surprised about that literary article 16 00:01:33,488 --> 00:01:35,818 made by the caricature. 17 00:01:39,558 --> 00:01:41,958 When I can truly 18 00:01:42,548 --> 00:01:45,268 control Camba's expression 19 00:01:45,868 --> 00:01:47,958 I have to simplify. 20 00:01:48,538 --> 00:01:51,538 I must have less lines. 21 00:01:51,918 --> 00:01:55,138 There's still a little of caricature. 22 00:01:57,138 --> 00:02:01,768 For now, it's a caricature portrait. 23 00:02:03,358 --> 00:02:05,538 A deformed portrait. 24 00:02:06,948 --> 00:02:09,538 But it's still not a caricature. 25 00:02:10,538 --> 00:02:13,538 It's in process. 26 00:02:13,668 --> 00:02:16,298 It's in process, I see it in the eyes. 27 00:02:19,538 --> 00:02:22,838 I see how the caricature should be in the eyes. 28 00:02:25,748 --> 00:02:27,078 Here is. 29 00:02:28,878 --> 00:02:31,128 Here is Mr Julio. 30 00:02:31,458 --> 00:02:34,388 Well, a sketch of Mr Julio. 31 00:02:35,538 --> 00:02:38,538 When the character is controlled, 32 00:02:40,538 --> 00:02:42,248 we'll talk again. 33 00:02:45,538 --> 00:02:49,338 We'll make a colour caricature, a full body one. 34 00:03:01,838 --> 00:03:05,538 -Julio Camba spends the last years at the Hotel Palace in Madrid. 35 00:03:05,568 --> 00:03:08,538 Since he returned from Lisbon in 1948, 36 00:03:08,548 --> 00:03:10,538 with a delicate health, 37 00:03:10,688 --> 00:03:15,658 until a few days before his death in February 1962. 38 00:03:16,038 --> 00:03:19,238 It's almost thirteen years living in this hotel. 39 00:03:19,538 --> 00:03:24,538 Therefore, even today he's remembered like the Palace solitaire. 40 00:03:29,538 --> 00:03:32,038 More than 60 years after his death, 41 00:03:32,538 --> 00:03:34,838 we return with Camba to this place 42 00:03:35,048 --> 00:03:37,938 to see if we can find some of his trace 43 00:03:38,138 --> 00:03:41,138 or at least, of his ghost. 44 00:03:41,838 --> 00:03:44,538 Room 383 of this hotel 45 00:03:44,638 --> 00:03:47,038 was the last refuge of a great traveller 46 00:03:47,138 --> 00:03:49,338 who had already given up moving 47 00:03:49,438 --> 00:03:53,038 and of a journalist who didn't want and couldn't even write 48 00:03:53,138 --> 00:03:55,238 about a world that was no longer his. 49 00:03:59,538 --> 00:04:03,538 (Soft music) 50 00:04:10,638 --> 00:04:13,038 -"The sandwich men", by Julio Camba. 51 00:04:13,138 --> 00:04:15,838 -My idea is to live abroad freely 52 00:04:15,938 --> 00:04:19,438 without any cable connecting me to a Spanish newspaper management. 53 00:04:19,538 --> 00:04:22,838 Living abroad like fish in the water and not like a diver. 54 00:04:22,898 --> 00:04:26,538 -I wanted to become completely independent from Spain 55 00:04:26,638 --> 00:04:30,338 and, to achieve it, I have only one resource: 56 00:04:30,838 --> 00:04:33,538 becoming a sandwich man. 57 00:04:34,538 --> 00:04:38,438 -The profession of a sandwich man isn't profitable, but philosophical. 58 00:04:38,538 --> 00:04:40,538 It's a skeptical and peripatetic philosophy 59 00:04:40,638 --> 00:04:43,138 that perfectly agrees with all my principles. 60 00:04:43,198 --> 00:04:45,738 -Before dumping on the "business man" top hat 61 00:04:46,138 --> 00:04:48,638 and jogging around the "city", 62 00:04:49,338 --> 00:04:54,538 I prefer to put a poster on my chest and another on the back 63 00:04:55,598 --> 00:04:59,538 and walk slowly around Piccadilly and Regent Street. 64 00:05:00,938 --> 00:05:02,638 -I can stand the poster, 65 00:05:02,738 --> 00:05:05,038 after all a poster is advertising. 66 00:05:05,138 --> 00:05:06,438 When the poster is put on me, 67 00:05:06,538 --> 00:05:08,038 I'll realise I'm moving 68 00:05:08,088 --> 00:05:10,138 from the first to the last pages of the press. 69 00:05:10,388 --> 00:05:12,538 -However, that hateful top hat 70 00:05:12,698 --> 00:05:15,538 that everyone wears here to go to the "city", 71 00:05:15,838 --> 00:05:17,838 I would never accept it. 72 00:05:18,738 --> 00:05:20,838 -Actually, being a sandwich man 73 00:05:20,938 --> 00:05:23,038 isn't precisely a profession, 74 00:05:23,048 --> 00:05:26,238 but something infinitely higher: a philosophy. 75 00:05:27,138 --> 00:05:29,238 -The sandwich man does nothing. 76 00:05:29,538 --> 00:05:32,738 He walks, strolls, digs, smells. 77 00:05:33,138 --> 00:05:35,538 It's different from the usual slacker 78 00:05:35,738 --> 00:05:38,538 because of the poster. 79 00:05:39,438 --> 00:05:41,538 -That is, the sandwich man is a slacker. 80 00:05:41,588 --> 00:05:43,988 He's a slacker who manages his laziness 81 00:05:44,038 --> 00:05:46,138 at the service of advertising agencies. 82 00:05:46,268 --> 00:05:49,268 -Can there be anything more seductive for a Spanish? 83 00:05:50,138 --> 00:05:54,738 But don't believe that everyone is good for being a sandwich man. 84 00:05:54,738 --> 00:05:58,538 -A slacker isn't enough, as stated, a philosopher is required. 85 00:05:58,738 --> 00:06:02,838 -The perfect sandwich man puts down all human vanities 86 00:06:03,108 --> 00:06:05,438 and it doesn't matter if his back is used 87 00:06:05,498 --> 00:06:07,998 to advertise a hair strengthener, 88 00:06:08,038 --> 00:06:10,538 a depilatory, a product for gaining weight, 89 00:06:10,638 --> 00:06:12,238 or a product to lose it. 90 00:06:12,338 --> 00:06:14,938 -A Shakespearean drama rather than a Paulova dance. 91 00:06:15,038 --> 00:06:16,638 A "meeting" of "suffragettes" rather 92 00:06:16,738 --> 00:06:18,738 than María Corelli's last novel. 93 00:06:18,888 --> 00:06:20,338 The sandwich man is so stoic 94 00:06:20,438 --> 00:06:23,338 that lets himself to be run over by buses in Charing Cross Road. 95 00:06:24,138 --> 00:06:26,638 Yesterday a sandwich man let himself 96 00:06:26,758 --> 00:06:29,038 to be run over by a bus. 97 00:06:29,538 --> 00:06:31,138 The truth, said the judge, 98 00:06:31,438 --> 00:06:35,338 is that sandwich men should be removed. 99 00:06:36,138 --> 00:06:38,138 -But he must have said that to the gallery. 100 00:06:38,148 --> 00:06:40,938 The proof is the bus company was sentenced. 101 00:06:41,088 --> 00:06:43,088 If sandwich men wanted to be removed, 102 00:06:43,168 --> 00:06:46,138 buses wouldn't be pulverised. 103 00:06:46,838 --> 00:06:50,738 -"A Tribuna, 1st March 1903". 104 00:06:54,938 --> 00:06:56,138 -What's the secret? 105 00:06:56,508 --> 00:06:59,438 -Jean-Paul Sartre said it about Boudelaire. 106 00:07:00,208 --> 00:07:02,538 And Boudelaire took the secret to the grave. 107 00:07:03,038 --> 00:07:05,938 In my opinion, Camba did something similar. 108 00:07:07,238 --> 00:07:09,838 He deliberately erased his trace. 109 00:07:10,128 --> 00:07:12,538 So, there's a big gap. 110 00:07:12,738 --> 00:07:15,888 -He was quite a complex man to leave him a single secret, right? 111 00:07:15,898 --> 00:07:16,998 He would have several secrets. 112 00:07:17,148 --> 00:07:20,538 -Indeed, we know the newspapers in which he collaborated. 113 00:07:20,958 --> 00:07:23,058 The countries where he travelled. 114 00:07:23,848 --> 00:07:25,948 But we need the data. 115 00:07:26,038 --> 00:07:30,238 Anyway, we need facts to move forward and we don't have them. 116 00:07:30,838 --> 00:07:34,538 -It was Camba who was in charge of leaving no traces. 117 00:07:34,638 --> 00:07:37,438 Well, he was a very protective guy of his privacy. 118 00:07:37,838 --> 00:07:40,838 So much so that the only images of him in motion 119 00:07:40,938 --> 00:07:42,538 are those of his burial. 120 00:07:42,638 --> 00:07:45,538 It must have been the only moment where he was caught off guard. 121 00:07:45,638 --> 00:07:48,838 We wonder what Camba would think about that daring. 122 00:07:48,938 --> 00:07:52,238 -No, I don't think he liked it, but he would write an article. 123 00:07:53,238 --> 00:07:56,538 He would say that for once he's taken a photo 124 00:07:56,638 --> 00:07:58,038 he must be lying. 125 00:08:01,538 --> 00:08:04,538 (Soft music) 126 00:08:06,538 --> 00:08:08,538 -Despite his illness, 127 00:08:08,638 --> 00:08:12,538 Camba keeps some rituals until the last days of his life. 128 00:08:13,038 --> 00:08:16,038 Getting up late and his daily bath. 129 00:08:16,338 --> 00:08:18,938 Two habits that allow us to travel 130 00:08:19,038 --> 00:08:21,338 through the mist of his memory 131 00:08:21,438 --> 00:08:24,838 to find out more of that man who wanted to be nothing 132 00:08:24,938 --> 00:08:26,838 and only aspired to live well, 133 00:08:26,938 --> 00:08:29,138 but who would become the best columnist 134 00:08:29,238 --> 00:08:32,338 and the most prestigious international correspondent of the 135 00:08:32,438 --> 00:08:34,738 Spanish press in the 20th century. 136 00:08:39,738 --> 00:08:43,738 (Soft music) 137 00:09:09,538 --> 00:09:13,238 -We're in front of Julio Camba's birth house. 138 00:09:13,838 --> 00:09:19,308 He was born here on 16th December 1884. 139 00:09:20,118 --> 00:09:23,638 It's a sailor style house dating from 19th century 140 00:09:24,178 --> 00:09:27,178 that was well-known 141 00:09:27,308 --> 00:09:32,838 because Cambas's grandfather lived in it, the expert. 142 00:09:32,938 --> 00:09:34,838 He was a surveyor. 143 00:09:35,538 --> 00:09:38,838 Julio Camba was a rebellious boy, 144 00:09:39,138 --> 00:09:41,238 he was an incorrigible boy, 145 00:09:41,738 --> 00:09:43,938 who was capable of angering 146 00:09:44,038 --> 00:09:47,838 his father, the teacher and even the priest of the town. 147 00:09:48,338 --> 00:09:51,038 "The rural school is a torture place 148 00:09:51,138 --> 00:09:53,938 where my parents sent me as a punishment. 149 00:09:54,308 --> 00:09:56,638 The rooms are infected and small. 150 00:09:56,738 --> 00:10:00,238 -Diseases because of dirt are common there. 151 00:10:00,538 --> 00:10:03,038 -And after six or seven years a child goes out of there 152 00:10:03,098 --> 00:10:04,338 knowing the four rules. 153 00:10:04,448 --> 00:10:05,548 -Writing a dictation, 154 00:10:05,638 --> 00:10:07,738 -fractions, Iriarte's fables. 155 00:10:07,968 --> 00:10:09,838 -And Father Estete's catechism. 156 00:10:09,938 --> 00:10:13,038 -But, what does it matter learning a little or a lot? 157 00:10:13,538 --> 00:10:17,338 -The problem is children hate studying when they come out. 158 00:10:20,538 --> 00:10:23,538 -I was ten or twelve years old when a kind gentleman 159 00:10:23,638 --> 00:10:24,738 talked to my parents. 160 00:10:24,838 --> 00:10:27,338 And he offered to pay my studies for priesthood". 161 00:10:27,438 --> 00:10:30,338 But Julio flatly refused. 162 00:10:30,538 --> 00:10:35,538 Julio Camba rejected the school, 163 00:10:35,648 --> 00:10:37,738 he rejected the church. 164 00:10:38,338 --> 00:10:41,538 -"I used to miss school and mass. 165 00:10:41,638 --> 00:10:44,238 -Mass angered me even more than school". 166 00:10:44,438 --> 00:10:49,038 I showed promise of the anarchist I would soon become. 167 00:10:49,738 --> 00:10:52,438 -"And in the atrium of the church I used to show off 168 00:10:52,538 --> 00:10:54,438 a Voltairean skepticism 169 00:10:54,538 --> 00:10:56,338 which was my girlfriend's terror. 170 00:10:56,388 --> 00:10:58,338 -Having a girlfriend, smoking through the nose 171 00:10:58,388 --> 00:11:00,438 and keeping in secret church matters. 172 00:11:00,468 --> 00:11:03,838 -I only needed a cape and a moustache to be a Don Juan. 173 00:11:04,038 --> 00:11:05,838 Atheist, seductive and cruel. 174 00:11:06,288 --> 00:11:10,488 -Like that of a puppet company which had recently been in town". 175 00:11:12,038 --> 00:11:15,138 -Camba's father, who was a doctor, an assistant, 176 00:11:15,538 --> 00:11:18,138 wanted his son to have a profession. 177 00:11:18,338 --> 00:11:19,838 But he never succeeded. 178 00:11:19,938 --> 00:11:24,638 Despite Camba's refusal to study, he tried Camba 179 00:11:25,138 --> 00:11:27,038 to be an apprentice. 180 00:11:27,038 --> 00:11:30,538 That's when Camba had two experiences with chemists. 181 00:11:30,938 --> 00:11:35,838 -In the back rooms there were outstanding, 182 00:11:35,938 --> 00:11:37,038 very important libraries. 183 00:11:37,138 --> 00:11:40,838 Chemists collected books and magazines. 184 00:11:41,538 --> 00:11:45,558 It's believed the first readings come from there. 185 00:11:45,638 --> 00:11:47,838 He read everything he could get. 186 00:11:48,338 --> 00:11:51,538 It's even said the first English he practised 187 00:11:52,138 --> 00:11:56,938 was reading magazines from Great Britain. 188 00:11:57,938 --> 00:12:01,338 -He published poetry in Galician at a young age 189 00:12:01,438 --> 00:12:03,338 in local newspapers. 190 00:12:04,238 --> 00:12:08,238 When he's 15, he writes an article for Eco of Marín 191 00:12:08,738 --> 00:12:11,538 in favour of the free love achieved by the archbishopric 192 00:12:11,638 --> 00:12:15,038 of Santiago de Compostela excommunicate the publication. 193 00:12:17,038 --> 00:12:19,938 -Camba realises his place isn't there. 194 00:12:20,238 --> 00:12:23,538 Not even in Vilanova, Marín or Vilagarcía. 195 00:12:26,338 --> 00:12:28,338 His place is in Buenos Aires. 196 00:12:29,538 --> 00:12:33,238 -He took a blanket and decided to stow away 197 00:12:33,638 --> 00:12:39,138 on a ship crossing from Galicia to Buenos Aires. 198 00:12:44,138 --> 00:12:48,138 (Lively music) 199 00:12:49,938 --> 00:12:53,238 -Buenos Aires was a great city at the beginning of the 20th century, 200 00:12:53,638 --> 00:12:57,938 it was called the Paris of America. It was a lively city. 201 00:12:58,138 --> 00:13:00,238 With a great cultural activity, 202 00:13:00,538 --> 00:13:04,038 with an important social conflict too, 203 00:13:04,538 --> 00:13:07,038 and a Galician guy is found, 204 00:13:07,148 --> 00:13:09,738 who leaves his family, his town, 205 00:13:09,798 --> 00:13:13,538 and gets to that great city which is Buenos Aires in 1900. 206 00:13:19,038 --> 00:13:20,538 "Memories. 207 00:13:22,038 --> 00:13:23,538 I don't know how it happened! 208 00:13:24,338 --> 00:13:26,838 I only remember it in my aching mind, 209 00:13:27,038 --> 00:13:29,338 the sad and biting memory 210 00:13:29,838 --> 00:13:32,938 of a ship escaping towards those storms; 211 00:13:33,338 --> 00:13:35,938 -and a beach that, with a blanket of fog, 212 00:13:36,038 --> 00:13:37,138 was merged with the sky. 213 00:13:37,738 --> 00:13:39,838 And of a town covered with houses 214 00:13:39,938 --> 00:13:42,238 shone by the bright sun rays. 215 00:13:42,838 --> 00:13:47,238 Oh! I'll always see, wherever my eyes look, 216 00:13:47,538 --> 00:13:52,338 the poetic image of the town I watched from the boat that day. 217 00:13:53,038 --> 00:13:54,938 -I opened my soul there 218 00:13:55,638 --> 00:13:58,838 to the eternal lights and to sun rays and life. 219 00:13:59,238 --> 00:14:02,138 I jumped happy as a child in the mountains, 220 00:14:02,238 --> 00:14:05,038 streams, valleys and fields. 221 00:14:05,538 --> 00:14:06,938 And there, finally, 222 00:14:07,538 --> 00:14:11,138 in the tenderness of a mother, I felt the soft and pure caresses. 223 00:14:11,538 --> 00:14:15,138 -I don't know how it happened, but I want to send to the land, 224 00:14:15,538 --> 00:14:18,738 since I'm far away by huge seas, 225 00:14:18,938 --> 00:14:23,038 a tear, a complaint wrapped in the breeze. 226 00:14:23,538 --> 00:14:26,538 Simple interpretations of a blessed sorrow 227 00:14:26,838 --> 00:14:29,338 that restrains me when seeing my land, 228 00:14:29,638 --> 00:14:31,938 the pure sky of the beloved Galicia. 229 00:14:32,538 --> 00:14:36,538 -And that town made up of cheerful and white shacks, 230 00:14:37,038 --> 00:14:39,338 one of which is mine". 231 00:14:40,538 --> 00:14:45,238 Julio Camba, Buenos Aires. San Xoán de 1901. 232 00:14:48,938 --> 00:14:51,938 -The Galician community, especially Galician intellectuals, 233 00:14:51,988 --> 00:14:53,438 didn't pay much attention to him. 234 00:14:53,488 --> 00:14:56,538 No material attention, no literary attention. 235 00:14:56,838 --> 00:15:00,638 Camba joined a powerful movement such as the anarchist. 236 00:15:00,738 --> 00:15:04,238 There was a large brotherhood among anarchists. 237 00:15:04,438 --> 00:15:08,238 -The Argentinian anarchist movement is very powerful and fascinates Camba. 238 00:15:08,288 --> 00:15:11,038 He's fascinated because it's a joyful movement, 239 00:15:11,088 --> 00:15:14,538 a combative movement, a cosmopolitan movement, 240 00:15:14,638 --> 00:15:16,838 it's also an artistic movement 241 00:15:16,938 --> 00:15:19,838 and, above all, an environment full of generosity. 242 00:15:19,968 --> 00:15:22,738 The revolution that will come isn't the most important, 243 00:15:22,778 --> 00:15:25,138 but the revolution which is made every day 244 00:15:25,188 --> 00:15:27,638 during the struggle. That's the most fascinating. 245 00:15:27,738 --> 00:15:31,638 The organisation of the movement is already a revolutionary fact. 246 00:15:32,938 --> 00:15:35,538 -"Oh, fair, subtle, powerful poison, 247 00:15:35,838 --> 00:15:38,438 Tomas de Quincey said about opium. 248 00:15:38,488 --> 00:15:42,538 The poison of anarchy is also fair, subtle and powerful. 249 00:15:42,938 --> 00:15:46,288 Any opium smoker, any absinthe drinker, 250 00:15:46,408 --> 00:15:48,538 any morphine or hashish taker 251 00:15:48,638 --> 00:15:51,738 had their dreams populated with more beautiful visions 252 00:15:51,788 --> 00:15:54,738 than the visions populating the great anarchist illusion. 253 00:15:55,538 --> 00:15:58,538 Anarchy is also one of the artificial paradises 254 00:15:58,838 --> 00:16:01,138 and it's worth to visit this paradise 255 00:16:01,238 --> 00:16:03,338 when a natural one isn't available". 256 00:16:04,738 --> 00:16:06,038 -Camba's stay 257 00:16:06,538 --> 00:16:10,538 was very positive within the Argentinian anarchism, 258 00:16:11,038 --> 00:16:13,338 not only for the ideological configuration, 259 00:16:13,438 --> 00:16:15,638 but also in the literary scene. 260 00:16:15,838 --> 00:16:17,638 Anyone who compares 261 00:16:18,038 --> 00:16:21,738 Camba's publications in Galicia before going to Argentina 262 00:16:22,238 --> 00:16:25,438 can see they have a very low level, 263 00:16:25,538 --> 00:16:28,538 much lower than those articles published in Argentina. 264 00:16:28,638 --> 00:16:33,438 And during the time he was in the Argentinian libertarian media 265 00:16:34,338 --> 00:16:36,338 he gained prestige. 266 00:16:37,098 --> 00:16:40,538 -The key fact highlighting his expulsion from the country 267 00:16:40,838 --> 00:16:44,838 is that first general strike in the history of the Republic. 268 00:16:45,038 --> 00:16:46,838 -Buenos Aires was stopped. 269 00:16:47,238 --> 00:16:51,338 Therefore, the authorities decide to create a residence law 270 00:16:51,438 --> 00:16:54,038 due to the mistaken idea that most anarchists 271 00:16:54,088 --> 00:16:57,038 were European immigrants who sought refuge in Argentina 272 00:16:57,088 --> 00:16:59,188 because they really were the great agitators, 273 00:16:59,238 --> 00:17:01,438 but time showed that it wasn't true. 274 00:17:01,538 --> 00:17:02,838 He's detained. 275 00:17:03,038 --> 00:17:06,038 So he's taken to the port, where he stays for several days, 276 00:17:06,238 --> 00:17:09,938 and on 30th November of that year, 1902, 277 00:17:10,038 --> 00:17:13,038 he travels with other ten people to Spain. 278 00:17:13,538 --> 00:17:18,438 -That's how Camba became the first Spanish emigrant 279 00:17:19,338 --> 00:17:23,538 who got the journey for free, both going and coming. 280 00:17:23,838 --> 00:17:26,938 Going as a stowaway and coming as an expelled. 281 00:17:28,538 --> 00:17:32,538 (Seagulls) 282 00:17:39,538 --> 00:17:42,538 (Relaxing music) 283 00:18:27,838 --> 00:18:30,538 -Camba begins to collaborate in Tierra y Libertad. 284 00:18:30,808 --> 00:18:33,938 -That's a journal which takes part of a project 285 00:18:34,138 --> 00:18:35,738 developed by the Montseny marriage. 286 00:18:35,838 --> 00:18:40,268 For the first time in his life, Camba will be a journalism professional 287 00:18:40,538 --> 00:18:45,738 and it also represents the beginning of a tour within the Spanish anarchism 288 00:18:46,038 --> 00:18:48,238 that, of course, is no less interesting 289 00:18:48,288 --> 00:18:49,938 than that in Argentina. 290 00:18:50,038 --> 00:18:52,638 -He meets the typographer Antonio Apolo from Extremadura 291 00:18:52,688 --> 00:18:55,338 and Camba starts a friendship with him. 292 00:18:55,538 --> 00:18:59,638 -Camba and Apolo soon disagree with the owners of Tierra y Libertad, 293 00:18:59,738 --> 00:19:03,638 with the Urales family, that is, Juan Montseny and Teresa Mañé. 294 00:19:03,738 --> 00:19:06,238 Camba and Apolo's points of view 295 00:19:06,298 --> 00:19:09,338 aren't taken into account, because they don't stop being 296 00:19:09,438 --> 00:19:11,138 employed editors 297 00:19:11,238 --> 00:19:15,338 and owners are owners, no matter how anarchist they were. 298 00:19:15,438 --> 00:19:17,738 -They decide to start their project, 299 00:19:17,838 --> 00:19:20,838 perhaps the most unique project in Camba's journalistic life 300 00:19:20,868 --> 00:19:22,538 which was El Rebelde. 301 00:19:22,638 --> 00:19:26,038 -It's a weekly newspaper to fight all tyrannies and 302 00:19:26,138 --> 00:19:28,338 to coordinate the Spanish anarchism. 303 00:19:28,838 --> 00:19:30,638 Very well written, very combative, 304 00:19:30,738 --> 00:19:34,138 moreover, the style is direct, like a fist. 305 00:19:34,338 --> 00:19:37,838 It's fluent, with some freshness 306 00:19:38,238 --> 00:19:42,038 and above all, it's a newspaper written with some humour. 307 00:19:42,138 --> 00:19:47,038 -"We came to fight, proud and resolved for the triumph of the good cause. 308 00:19:47,238 --> 00:19:51,138 We came to soak our pen with the red blood of great pains 309 00:19:51,338 --> 00:19:55,038 to write with it the epitaph of all tyrannies. 310 00:19:55,338 --> 00:19:57,938 There won't be any faint or weakness. 311 00:19:58,238 --> 00:20:00,538 If we fall down, we will with dignity, 312 00:20:00,638 --> 00:20:03,538 on this barricade that is being risen now, 313 00:20:03,638 --> 00:20:06,638 putting on it all the courage of our youth 314 00:20:06,938 --> 00:20:09,438 and all the firmness of our conviction. 315 00:20:09,538 --> 00:20:12,838 The ideal encourages us, the ideal is flesh of our flesh 316 00:20:12,938 --> 00:20:15,538 and spirit of our spirit". 317 00:20:18,238 --> 00:20:21,138 -The great thinkers of the anarchism at the time 318 00:20:21,538 --> 00:20:23,138 published in El Rebelde. 319 00:20:23,538 --> 00:20:26,538 It's also the most complicated stage of Camba's life. 320 00:20:26,638 --> 00:20:30,338 It was a time when anarchism was very repressed in Spain 321 00:20:30,438 --> 00:20:33,338 and Camba manages to be one of the journalists 322 00:20:33,638 --> 00:20:35,638 who spent more time in the cells. 323 00:20:35,738 --> 00:20:38,238 He once told that adding up every year 324 00:20:38,288 --> 00:20:41,038 he was sentenced he reached the age of 180. 325 00:20:41,538 --> 00:20:47,238 -Cansinos Assens said that Camba was an amateur anarchist. 326 00:20:48,138 --> 00:20:49,838 I don't agree. 327 00:20:49,888 --> 00:20:52,838 I think Julio Camba as a boy, as a young man, 328 00:20:53,238 --> 00:20:57,038 was a very serious militant anarchist. 329 00:20:57,138 --> 00:21:00,138 -It was a real anarchism of a great Nietzsche's reader, 330 00:21:00,188 --> 00:21:02,438 which seems that wasn't told, 331 00:21:02,488 --> 00:21:05,738 who knew Nietzsche and Stirner literature well, 332 00:21:05,788 --> 00:21:08,438 another philosophy belonging to individualism 333 00:21:08,738 --> 00:21:11,938 and also a great modernists' reader. 334 00:21:12,338 --> 00:21:14,538 -Camba and Apolo ended up ruined. 335 00:21:14,738 --> 00:21:17,538 -The police arrested at the headquarters of El Rebelde 336 00:21:17,588 --> 00:21:20,538 an anarchist with some dynamite cartridges. 337 00:21:20,638 --> 00:21:22,938 Apolo ends up in prison. 338 00:21:23,038 --> 00:21:25,738 The Urales family, through the magazine Blanca 339 00:21:25,838 --> 00:21:28,738 and Tierra y Libertad carried out a campaign stating that El Rebelde 340 00:21:28,788 --> 00:21:30,938 was funded by the Ministry of Interior. 341 00:21:30,988 --> 00:21:33,038 I believe, more than anything else, 342 00:21:33,088 --> 00:21:36,838 it was a way to try to eliminate competition 343 00:21:36,888 --> 00:21:40,338 that El Rebelde was doing to the media of the Montseny family. 344 00:21:46,238 --> 00:21:51,638 -The bomb thrown in rúa Maior in 1906 when the bridal entourage was there 345 00:21:52,338 --> 00:21:56,438 started the deep investigation to see who was behind it. 346 00:21:56,538 --> 00:22:00,038 So, a first relation between Camba and Morral appeared. 347 00:22:00,538 --> 00:22:04,138 Julio Camba knows the famous Mateo Morral, 348 00:22:04,538 --> 00:22:07,538 because of the publication named El Rebelde. 349 00:22:07,638 --> 00:22:11,038 Mateo Morral offered to fund El Rebelde 350 00:22:11,438 --> 00:22:13,738 and, above all, he put Camba in touch 351 00:22:13,838 --> 00:22:15,738 with someone who could help them, 352 00:22:15,788 --> 00:22:18,538 who was the pedagogue Francesc Ferrer i Garda. 353 00:22:19,538 --> 00:22:22,738 Morral committed suicide, ironies of life 354 00:22:23,038 --> 00:22:25,138 that found out among his belongings, 355 00:22:25,188 --> 00:22:27,938 Julio Camba's ID as a journalist 356 00:22:27,988 --> 00:22:30,138 to cover the wedding of Alphonso XIII. 357 00:22:30,338 --> 00:22:33,538 That's why he was tried and finally released 358 00:22:33,638 --> 00:22:38,238 as it was proved he was Morral's friend in the past, 359 00:22:38,288 --> 00:22:41,038 but he didn't have a close relationship with him 360 00:22:41,088 --> 00:22:44,738 and much less he had nothing to do with that attack. 361 00:22:46,038 --> 00:22:51,538 That attack may mark the beginning of Camba's anarchist end. 362 00:22:51,738 --> 00:22:53,538 -But it won't be the only reason. 363 00:22:53,638 --> 00:22:56,138 The closing of El Rebelde will also influence. 364 00:22:56,258 --> 00:22:59,338 But the most important is Camba realises 365 00:22:59,438 --> 00:23:03,638 that the revolution for which he fights won't happen. 366 00:23:03,738 --> 00:23:05,038 And so it was. 367 00:23:05,138 --> 00:23:07,438 My articles must be read tomorrow 368 00:23:07,538 --> 00:23:10,538 and they won't cause a riot 369 00:23:10,638 --> 00:23:12,138 not even an uprising. 370 00:23:12,338 --> 00:23:16,038 It's talked about the anarchist who changed to the right-wing policy, 371 00:23:16,338 --> 00:23:18,638 but I think it's the transition 372 00:23:18,838 --> 00:23:22,338 between the man who believes and, besides believing a lot, 373 00:23:22,638 --> 00:23:24,538 who believes a lot in that revolution, 374 00:23:24,738 --> 00:23:27,538 and the man who doesn't believe and doesn't believe in anything, 375 00:23:27,638 --> 00:23:29,438 but in anything else. 376 00:23:34,538 --> 00:23:39,538 (Relaxing music) 377 00:24:04,538 --> 00:24:07,538 378 00:24:07,638 --> 00:24:10,738 perhaps his first great newspaper, 379 00:24:10,788 --> 00:24:12,238 which is El País. 380 00:24:12,288 --> 00:24:17,538 Camba began to publish articles that maintain 381 00:24:17,638 --> 00:24:21,338 an anarchist ideology, which is gradually moderated. 382 00:24:21,738 --> 00:24:25,338 He jumps from El País to España Nueva in 1907. 383 00:24:25,838 --> 00:24:29,088 España Nueva is a newspaper where Camba is for a short time, 384 00:24:29,138 --> 00:24:31,138 but it's an important journal 385 00:24:31,238 --> 00:24:35,138 since Camba practises a new subgenre for him: 386 00:24:35,188 --> 00:24:36,538 the parliamentary article. 387 00:24:36,838 --> 00:24:38,738 -"One of the most interesting points 388 00:24:38,838 --> 00:24:41,138 of this Electoral Law reform project 389 00:24:41,198 --> 00:24:43,438 is the compulsory voting. 390 00:24:43,538 --> 00:24:47,838 It's justified by means of a very simple reasoning 391 00:24:48,038 --> 00:24:50,738 since citizens don't vote spontaneously, 392 00:24:50,838 --> 00:24:53,238 they are obligated to vote. 393 00:24:53,438 --> 00:24:56,838 Since voting isn't free, let's make it mandatory". 394 00:24:57,238 --> 00:24:58,938 -"A friend asked me: 395 00:24:59,038 --> 00:25:01,938 do you believe that the dead have the right to vote? 396 00:25:02,038 --> 00:25:04,138 Of course I answered. 397 00:25:04,238 --> 00:25:08,138 If there's something sacred, it's the vote of the dead. 398 00:25:08,188 --> 00:25:11,538 A dead man rising from the grave at the dawn of an election day 399 00:25:11,588 --> 00:25:14,738 and who goes to the electoral college to write the name on the ballot paper 400 00:25:14,788 --> 00:25:17,938 is doing an exemplary action and gives to all the living 401 00:25:17,988 --> 00:25:19,488 a lesson in civility. 402 00:25:19,538 --> 00:25:24,138 On the other hand, the dead need to be represented in the parliament too. 403 00:25:24,238 --> 00:25:28,338 What would happen with the life sentenced dead in niches 404 00:25:28,438 --> 00:25:32,538 if there were no representatives identified with their interests? 405 00:25:32,638 --> 00:25:34,538 That's why the dead vote. 406 00:25:34,638 --> 00:25:37,838 I imagine their satisfaction when they lay down 407 00:25:37,938 --> 00:25:40,738 after discharging their duties as citizens. 408 00:25:40,838 --> 00:25:44,438 The electoral suffrage worked the miracle of resurrection 409 00:25:44,738 --> 00:25:48,338 they won't get up and until the next election 410 00:25:48,638 --> 00:25:50,888 His dream, which is the dream of the dead, 411 00:25:50,938 --> 00:25:53,538 is also the dream of the righteous". 412 00:25:58,038 --> 00:26:01,038 -He gives up that position as a parliamentary journalist 413 00:26:01,038 --> 00:26:05,738 in España Nueva and goes to another really important newspaper 414 00:26:05,968 --> 00:26:07,638 in his life which is El Mundo. 415 00:26:07,638 --> 00:26:11,938 In 1907, Camba went to El Mundo, a much more modern newspaper. 416 00:26:12,138 --> 00:26:15,738 That's where the Camba of today begins 417 00:26:16,138 --> 00:26:19,338 and agrees to work in one of the most well-known sections 418 00:26:19,438 --> 00:26:22,538 the newspaper had, which was "Words of a Society Person". 419 00:26:27,038 --> 00:26:30,338 An unexpected event happens while he's walking one day around Madrid. 420 00:26:30,638 --> 00:26:33,238 Leopoldo Romeo makes him a unique offer: 421 00:26:33,288 --> 00:26:35,938 giving up his work at El Mundo 422 00:26:36,008 --> 00:26:40,538 to be the Spanish correspondent in Istanbul. 423 00:26:41,238 --> 00:26:45,038 It was a change of continent, from Europe to Asia, an exotic thing 424 00:26:45,088 --> 00:26:47,338 and totally new to him. 425 00:26:47,538 --> 00:26:51,938 Camba thinks of it, being a customs journalist 426 00:26:52,038 --> 00:26:54,738 or becoming a correspondent. 427 00:26:55,538 --> 00:26:58,138 In my opinion, this is the beginning 428 00:26:58,438 --> 00:27:01,838 of the best Spanish correspondent career in the 20th century. 429 00:27:11,838 --> 00:27:16,838 (Soft music) 430 00:27:42,038 --> 00:27:43,838 -"From Constantinople, 431 00:27:44,538 --> 00:27:45,738 the religion of water. 432 00:27:45,838 --> 00:27:49,238 When the bathroom employee took the camel skin glove 433 00:27:49,358 --> 00:27:52,538 and began to washed my chest, arms and legs, 434 00:27:52,638 --> 00:27:55,138 I felt humiliated and surprised. 435 00:27:55,238 --> 00:27:58,738 What's this? I asked to the Turkish friend who was with me 436 00:27:58,838 --> 00:28:01,938 pointing out the dirt covering my skin. 437 00:28:02,438 --> 00:28:05,538 The Turk hesitated for a moment as if he was afraid of offending me. 438 00:28:06,038 --> 00:28:07,838 Soon after, with his arm 439 00:28:08,138 --> 00:28:11,538 the glove didn't turn black, but pink, 440 00:28:12,038 --> 00:28:15,838 and with a decisive gesture he said: that's Christianity. 441 00:28:15,938 --> 00:28:19,838 It was indeed Christianity sprouting from my open pores 442 00:28:19,888 --> 00:28:21,738 to the heat of a Mohammedan bath, 443 00:28:22,138 --> 00:28:24,938 because Christianity, attentive to the hygiene of the soul, 444 00:28:25,238 --> 00:28:28,438 completely neglected to wash the body. 445 00:28:28,938 --> 00:28:31,338 For Christianity water is only holy 446 00:28:31,388 --> 00:28:33,338 in the form of holy water. 447 00:28:33,838 --> 00:28:37,038 On the other hand, in Islam all water is blessed by Allah, 448 00:28:37,138 --> 00:28:39,138 that of the prophet and believers. 449 00:28:39,538 --> 00:28:41,538 Let's walk around Istanbul. 450 00:28:41,638 --> 00:28:44,938 If we're so sweet to use a notebook, 451 00:28:45,138 --> 00:28:47,538 we can write on it the observation 452 00:28:47,838 --> 00:28:51,338 that public fountains are the best monuments. 453 00:28:52,138 --> 00:28:54,538 There's a Turkish legend in each fountain 454 00:28:54,638 --> 00:28:57,938 that is literally translated as: Thank God. 455 00:28:58,538 --> 00:29:01,838 Wherever Mohammedans found a spring, 456 00:29:01,838 --> 00:29:04,638 they saw a proof of divine magnificence 457 00:29:04,838 --> 00:29:07,338 and glorified the providence". 458 00:29:09,138 --> 00:29:11,938 -He went there with a two-year contract, 459 00:29:12,138 --> 00:29:16,138 but within a few months he feels the city is much for him. 460 00:29:16,238 --> 00:29:19,238 When he comes back to Madrid, he returns to his previous newspaper. 461 00:29:19,338 --> 00:29:23,638 But he's no longer the same journalist because the editor of El Mundo 462 00:29:24,038 --> 00:29:27,538 understands the Camba correspondent 463 00:29:27,638 --> 00:29:29,638 must be somehow exploited. 464 00:29:29,738 --> 00:29:35,238 -Writing travel articles was much easier for him, 465 00:29:35,338 --> 00:29:38,838 because he didn't have to invent anything, just observe. 466 00:29:39,038 --> 00:29:43,238 Observing from an ironic, humorous, a little critical, 467 00:29:43,438 --> 00:29:45,038 kind, elegant perspective. 468 00:29:45,438 --> 00:29:47,138 He began to give his touch, 469 00:29:47,198 --> 00:29:50,738 especially to the articles he wrote in Paris, 470 00:29:50,838 --> 00:29:54,138 London and Germany. That was already final for him. 471 00:29:54,538 --> 00:29:58,338 -He's proposed to be correspondent in the Paris of the "Belle Époque". 472 00:29:58,738 --> 00:30:02,138 Camba discovers in Paris a custom-made city. 473 00:30:02,538 --> 00:30:03,838 He's tucked up. 474 00:30:04,138 --> 00:30:07,088 He knows all the streets, good restaurants, 475 00:30:07,138 --> 00:30:08,938 he knows which clubs to go to, 476 00:30:09,138 --> 00:30:12,038 the cafés where he can read the newspaper quietly. 477 00:30:12,838 --> 00:30:14,738 Then, he's sent to London, 478 00:30:15,038 --> 00:30:18,338 where he spent a year sending articles to El Mundo. 479 00:30:18,938 --> 00:30:23,038 -He found more freedom, a grayer, lower sky in London. 480 00:30:23,738 --> 00:30:27,638 I think he had more freedom there because the English, after all, 481 00:30:27,738 --> 00:30:30,138 are the inventors of modern democracy 482 00:30:30,138 --> 00:30:33,138 and believe that everyone has the right to give an opinion. 483 00:30:33,538 --> 00:30:36,538 I think Camba had a good time in London. 484 00:30:36,938 --> 00:30:40,238 -"Someone can be in a restaurant and an English comes to 485 00:30:40,338 --> 00:30:45,138 sit down without greeting, asking permission and looking at. 486 00:30:45,538 --> 00:30:47,538 It's the disrespectful English. 487 00:30:47,938 --> 00:30:50,538 His ideal, while he's sitting with us, 488 00:30:50,638 --> 00:30:53,838 is to show he isn't paying attention to our existence. 489 00:30:54,038 --> 00:30:57,538 To do so, the English doesn't loot at anyone 490 00:30:57,738 --> 00:31:00,238 and it's hard for him. 491 00:31:00,938 --> 00:31:04,138 He usually unfolds a newspaper and starts reading. 492 00:31:04,538 --> 00:31:07,238 With the newspaper between us 493 00:31:07,338 --> 00:31:11,538 the English can refrain from looking to the sides and avoid a horse. 494 00:31:11,938 --> 00:31:14,338 But this scheme is comical". 495 00:31:16,738 --> 00:31:20,738 -The destination he chooses after London is just Paris. 496 00:31:21,138 --> 00:31:22,638 When coming back to Paris, 497 00:31:22,738 --> 00:31:25,438 he feels his place as correspondent, 498 00:31:25,538 --> 00:31:29,878 the place to show off is Paris. 499 00:31:31,538 --> 00:31:35,738 -"The inhabitants of Paris try out a satisfaction that doesn't exist 500 00:31:35,788 --> 00:31:39,938 for London citizens and probably for those from nowhere. 501 00:31:40,138 --> 00:31:42,438 The satisfaction of being in Paris. 502 00:31:42,538 --> 00:31:47,938 -He wakes up in Paris and is happy because he's in Paris. 503 00:31:48,438 --> 00:31:50,538 -Another person wakes up in London 504 00:31:50,638 --> 00:31:54,138 and is sad because of being in London. 505 00:31:54,338 --> 00:31:57,738 -What's there in Paris? There's nothing extraordinary. 506 00:31:57,788 --> 00:32:01,838 -A person lives here believing Paris has things that Madrid doesn't have. 507 00:32:02,038 --> 00:32:03,638 Until a man from Madrid arrives 508 00:32:03,738 --> 00:32:06,238 and ask someone to show those things. 509 00:32:06,338 --> 00:32:08,548 -These things aren't there. There's nothing. 510 00:32:08,638 --> 00:32:12,538 -It's the soul of Paris and people giving life here 511 00:32:12,638 --> 00:32:14,038 to which is loved. 512 00:32:14,138 --> 00:32:16,938 -It's Paris and not what there's in Paris. 513 00:32:17,138 --> 00:32:19,138 Paris is like opium, like morphine, 514 00:32:19,238 --> 00:32:21,838 -like cocaine or like Valencian rice. 515 00:32:21,938 --> 00:32:23,038 -It's a vice. 516 00:32:23,138 --> 00:32:26,938 -Someone focuses on Paris for a few months and gets lost. 517 00:32:27,238 --> 00:32:31,058 This person doesn't leave or does come back even if it's on foot. 518 00:32:31,138 --> 00:32:33,238 -The most seductive city in the world. 519 00:32:33,338 --> 00:32:36,538 -And God knows I'm not praising it". 520 00:32:37,338 --> 00:32:39,838 -As he feels at ease in the city 521 00:32:39,938 --> 00:32:44,338 he starts writing sarcastic, cutting articles 522 00:32:44,438 --> 00:32:46,638 against French customs. 523 00:32:46,938 --> 00:32:50,638 -But Parisians are aware they're Parisians 524 00:32:50,738 --> 00:32:53,338 and they're a capital city and the cultural capital city of Europe. 525 00:32:53,438 --> 00:32:57,938 -So it can give rise to a possible Camba's expulsion. 526 00:32:58,238 --> 00:33:01,638 -It was the previous years to the First World War. 527 00:33:01,738 --> 00:33:05,038 -He and the newspaper get the feeling 528 00:33:05,138 --> 00:33:08,238 that the government of the French Republic 529 00:33:08,338 --> 00:33:11,538 is trying to censor a Spanish journalist. 530 00:33:12,338 --> 00:33:14,838 -"When the director of Securité Générale 531 00:33:14,888 --> 00:33:16,838 threatened to expel me from France 532 00:33:16,938 --> 00:33:19,738 I thought from a cooking point of view 533 00:33:19,838 --> 00:33:22,838 that this expulsion would be a shame for me. 534 00:33:22,938 --> 00:33:26,838 The popularity it would bring me didn't flatter me at all. 535 00:33:26,938 --> 00:33:31,038 No, I prefer anonymity over a French "ris de veau" 536 00:33:31,138 --> 00:33:33,638 to glory in a in a guesthouse in Madrid. 537 00:33:33,738 --> 00:33:37,908 Even if this glory involved some credit from the patroa. 538 00:33:37,938 --> 00:33:40,738 So, if the threats were confirmed, 539 00:33:40,838 --> 00:33:44,938 I left Société Générale to a restaurant. 540 00:33:45,038 --> 00:33:47,938 where I enjoyed a menu that was a work of art. 541 00:33:48,038 --> 00:33:51,138 I had lunch with tears in my eyes and as I ate 542 00:33:51,238 --> 00:33:54,738 I was thinking I had been very unfair to France. 543 00:33:54,838 --> 00:34:00,528 A gastronomy that deserves utmost respect from the publicist." 544 00:34:04,538 --> 00:34:07,638 Indeed, Camba was not expelled from France. 545 00:34:07,728 --> 00:34:10,138 it was he who left out of pride. 546 00:34:10,238 --> 00:34:13,738 -He often bragged in front of the public. 547 00:34:13,838 --> 00:34:16,838 "I got expelled from Buenos Aires and Paris 548 00:34:16,938 --> 00:34:19,438 because I said and did as I pleased. 549 00:34:29,538 --> 00:34:34,538 (German music) 550 00:34:42,838 --> 00:34:45,838 -Camba has a particular relation with Germany. 551 00:34:46,838 --> 00:34:49,538 Camba finds Germany and especially Berlin 552 00:34:49,738 --> 00:34:53,738 too cold. 553 00:34:56,038 --> 00:34:59,038 -"I am the least German man in the world." 554 00:34:59,538 --> 00:35:02,138 Germans are tall and I'm small. 555 00:35:02,238 --> 00:35:05,938 They are blond and I am dark-haired. They are chubby and I'm slim. 556 00:35:07,038 --> 00:35:08,738 Germans know about philosophy, 557 00:35:08,838 --> 00:35:12,038 maths and Greek and another bunch of things. 558 00:35:12,538 --> 00:35:17,538 I have an encyclopedic ignorance revealing a great Spanishism". 559 00:35:17,638 --> 00:35:19,738 -Similar to what happened in France, 560 00:35:19,838 --> 00:35:22,838 he began to write very critical chronics about Germans, 561 00:35:22,938 --> 00:35:24,838 from an ironic perspective. 562 00:35:24,938 --> 00:35:27,638 That also caused them to reprimand him again. 563 00:35:29,038 --> 00:35:31,238 -He had a lot of fun in Munich. 564 00:35:32,538 --> 00:35:37,038 -"Two hours after his arrival, he'd already drunk three litres of beer. 565 00:35:37,238 --> 00:35:40,038 This is the country of beer and decorative art. 566 00:35:40,638 --> 00:35:42,838 Other than that, a charming country. 567 00:35:42,888 --> 00:35:46,838 There is a huge difference between these and the Prussian guards. 568 00:35:46,938 --> 00:35:49,838 The guards in Munich not only don't hit you, 569 00:35:49,938 --> 00:35:53,578 but they kindly provide all kinds of information". 570 00:35:54,938 --> 00:36:00,038 -Once a certain activity is noticed and the pre-war phase is foreseen 571 00:36:00,238 --> 00:36:03,338 Camba, along with other foreign journalists, 572 00:36:03,438 --> 00:36:06,738 are transported to the border of Germany with Switzerland. 573 00:36:06,838 --> 00:36:10,738 But once there, he decides to spend a summer in Switzerland as a tourist 574 00:36:10,838 --> 00:36:13,838 and see how a foreigner behaves in Switzerland. 575 00:36:14,538 --> 00:36:18,538 -"Here, every language and currency is in circulation. 576 00:36:19,538 --> 00:36:21,538 There is a Swiss currency by design 577 00:36:21,638 --> 00:36:24,938 to make it seem like the Swiss spend some more money. 578 00:36:25,638 --> 00:36:28,138 But one can order breakfast in English, 579 00:36:28,238 --> 00:36:30,238 French or Italian 580 00:36:30,338 --> 00:36:33,538 and pay for it with English French or Italian currency. 581 00:36:33,938 --> 00:36:36,538 Swiss money is our money". 582 00:36:39,238 --> 00:36:42,438 -In April 1916 ABC proudly announces 583 00:36:42,538 --> 00:36:45,738 that they are sending Camba as a correspondent to New York. 584 00:36:45,838 --> 00:36:50,538 Camba spends a whole year sending some delightful chronicles. 585 00:36:50,878 --> 00:36:55,378 -"New York is not a city, it's a system, a theory. 586 00:36:55,938 --> 00:36:59,038 One can know New York and never live there, 587 00:36:59,538 --> 00:37:02,438 or even study a describing guide. 588 00:37:02,538 --> 00:37:04,438 You learn the theory and that's it. 589 00:37:04,638 --> 00:37:08,438 I cannot surprise anyone in New York who has just arrived. 590 00:37:08,538 --> 00:37:12,538 Everyone here navigates the same as the oldest New Yorker. 591 00:37:12,638 --> 00:37:15,238 If a newcomer is in 114th Street, for example, 592 00:37:15,338 --> 00:37:18,038 and they want to go to 120th Street 593 00:37:18,138 --> 00:37:22,338 they know it's a matter of crossing six streets. 594 00:37:22,538 --> 00:37:26,238 120th Street will be next to 119th Street 595 00:37:26,338 --> 00:37:29,888 and the street number will be the only difference". 596 00:37:30,138 --> 00:37:32,938 -He was a correspondent a couple of times 597 00:37:33,038 --> 00:37:36,738 and the second time, when the Automatic City, 598 00:37:36,838 --> 00:37:38,438 he meets Lorca. 599 00:37:38,538 --> 00:37:44,138 Lorca tortured, expressionist, visionary, anguished, 600 00:37:45,038 --> 00:37:46,838 and on the other hand, Camba. 601 00:37:47,758 --> 00:37:52,138 Observing about realization, machinery, 602 00:37:52,438 --> 00:37:55,038 he takes a skeptical distance. 603 00:37:59,538 --> 00:38:02,438 -I believe the greatest singularity of Camba, 604 00:38:02,538 --> 00:38:05,838 is precisely that he didn´t write tied to current events. 605 00:38:06,038 --> 00:38:08,158 He used to go his own way. 606 00:38:08,558 --> 00:38:13,238 He was a correspondent in Paris, London, Berlin. 607 00:38:13,338 --> 00:38:17,038 He lived through the years of the Great War, the First World War, 608 00:38:17,038 --> 00:38:22,538 but as far as I know, he never told a single thing about the conflict. 609 00:38:22,938 --> 00:38:27,038 He always talks about his own things the pension where he lives in Berlin 610 00:38:27,138 --> 00:38:31,238 the German teachers and his always stained frock coat, 611 00:38:31,538 --> 00:38:34,538 about the "cafetíns", he writes with complete freedom. 612 00:38:34,838 --> 00:38:38,738 -This leads some newspapers which have him as a correspondent 613 00:38:38,838 --> 00:38:40,538 in a European city, 614 00:38:40,638 --> 00:38:43,538 to have a second correspondent in the same city 615 00:38:43,638 --> 00:38:46,438 responsible for more current news. 616 00:38:46,538 --> 00:38:48,338 Camba goes his own way. 617 00:38:48,538 --> 00:38:51,638 -These are articles depicting an era, 618 00:38:52,938 --> 00:38:55,538 they don't narrate an event. 619 00:38:56,938 --> 00:38:59,838 Telling events is within anyone's reach. 620 00:39:00,138 --> 00:39:03,138 Portraying an era is within the reach of few people. 621 00:39:04,238 --> 00:39:10,138 -He takes on the attitude of an innocent and skeptical being, 622 00:39:10,938 --> 00:39:13,438 traveling the world discovering things, 623 00:39:13,538 --> 00:39:17,338 But what things does Camba discover? Those visible to everyone. 624 00:39:18,538 --> 00:39:22,538 He doesn't have to dig anywhere. 625 00:39:22,738 --> 00:39:27,038 It's the thing that we all see but don't pay attention to. 626 00:39:27,538 --> 00:39:32,038 He's capable of turning that vision 627 00:39:32,838 --> 00:39:35,638 of something that was already there that we all see 628 00:39:36,038 --> 00:39:39,938 into a fantastic literary work. 629 00:39:40,538 --> 00:39:43,538 -"One may envy the fortune of the traveling writer. 630 00:39:43,638 --> 00:39:46,038 The things such men will see in this world! 631 00:39:46,138 --> 00:39:47,738 Some people think. 632 00:39:47,838 --> 00:39:50,138 But in this world, and I suppose in all worlds, 633 00:39:50,188 --> 00:39:53,838 the poor writer sees nothing but one thing: articles. 634 00:39:54,238 --> 00:39:57,138 For most people, 635 00:39:57,338 --> 00:39:59,038 and a forest is a forest. 636 00:39:59,138 --> 00:40:02,238 For the writer, however, the desert is a chronicle 637 00:40:02,338 --> 00:40:04,238 and the forest is another chronicle. 638 00:40:04,538 --> 00:40:07,538 You, my dearest reader, leave me in front of the sea. 639 00:40:07,638 --> 00:40:12,038 Let's say, you go for a little walk, and when you come back 640 00:40:12,058 --> 00:40:15,538 what do you think I've done with the blue immensity? 641 00:40:15,638 --> 00:40:18,838 Exactly the same thing I'd do with a Romanesque church, 642 00:40:18,938 --> 00:40:22,138 a pair of socks, a speech from Mr. Lerrus, 643 00:40:22,238 --> 00:40:23,838 a sunset 644 00:40:23,938 --> 00:40:27,038 or with a new method to combat tuberculosis. 645 00:40:27,238 --> 00:40:29,238 I'd have taken it, turned it 646 00:40:29,338 --> 00:40:31,738 and reduced it to a 150 square-centimeter 647 00:40:31,838 --> 00:40:35,538 literary surface approximately". 648 00:40:39,038 --> 00:40:42,938 -In a few years, Camba becomes the most beloved foreign correspondent 649 00:40:43,038 --> 00:40:45,738 among Spanish readers. 650 00:40:45,838 --> 00:40:50,338 The main headlines of the Spanish press vie for his byline. 651 00:40:50,538 --> 00:40:52,238 They know that his texts, 652 00:40:52,338 --> 00:40:55,238 always brief, entertaining, original, and fun, 653 00:40:55,338 --> 00:40:59,538 are the most read, and even significantly 654 00:40:59,638 --> 00:41:01,138 increase newspaper sales. 655 00:41:01,238 --> 00:41:04,398 So Camba, later becomes one of the most 656 00:41:04,448 --> 00:41:06,848 sought-after journalists of his time 657 00:41:06,938 --> 00:41:09,738 and envied by some colleagues. 658 00:41:17,738 --> 00:41:22,738 (Calm music) 659 00:41:58,038 --> 00:42:00,538 -If there is a word that defines Camba, 660 00:42:00,738 --> 00:42:03,738 the first one that comes up to my mind is columnist. 661 00:42:03,938 --> 00:42:07,938 A columnist among the greatest, a reference. 662 00:42:12,538 --> 00:42:16,538 -His conception of the column, I would say is perfectly summarized 663 00:42:16,738 --> 00:42:18,838 in a couple of his articles. 664 00:42:18,938 --> 00:42:21,338 One of them is titled: "My Name is Camba", 665 00:42:21,438 --> 00:42:24,338 published in ABC, which is a presentation, 666 00:42:24,438 --> 00:42:29,438 a kind of poetic manifesto for the days as a traveler in Germany. 667 00:42:29,538 --> 00:42:34,138 It's "himself" reacting in a specific cultural context. 668 00:42:34,538 --> 00:42:39,838 There is no travelogue in Camba, no narrative of the journey. 669 00:42:40,298 --> 00:42:43,738 There are no descriptions no landscape. 670 00:42:44,088 --> 00:42:48,338 He doesn't go to a museum, he can be in a city like Paris 671 00:42:48,438 --> 00:42:52,138 and not enter the Louvre. He's not interested. 672 00:42:52,238 --> 00:42:56,138 He enters a good restaurant and he wanders around. 673 00:42:56,238 --> 00:42:57,738 Then, he starts observing. 674 00:42:57,838 --> 00:43:01,938 He discovers something that he realizes inspires him. 675 00:43:02,038 --> 00:43:05,938 It could be someone dresses it could be a dish 676 00:43:06,038 --> 00:43:09,038 and from that specific area, he constructs an idea. 677 00:43:09,138 --> 00:43:10,338 He builds the column. 678 00:43:10,638 --> 00:43:14,388 -The love for insignificant details, he did this a lot. 679 00:43:14,838 --> 00:43:20,538 And I love this, to praise those who are fragile. 680 00:43:20,838 --> 00:43:26,138 To exalt who's been forgotten, to put on a pedestal a crumb of bread 681 00:43:26,438 --> 00:43:29,238 or to put on a pedestal the peel of a tangerine. 682 00:43:29,338 --> 00:43:31,938 To put on a pedestal who has never been there. 683 00:43:32,038 --> 00:43:34,338 What does that have? What can we get from there? 684 00:43:34,538 --> 00:43:38,638 If you're using a pedestal to exalt what was never exalted 685 00:43:39,438 --> 00:43:41,438 the first thing you do 686 00:43:41,538 --> 00:43:45,238 is take off the pedestal whatever was already there. 687 00:43:45,338 --> 00:43:49,238 That's what I like, how Julio Camba takes off the pedestal 688 00:43:49,338 --> 00:43:55,038 those who have occupied that place in the first place. 689 00:43:55,538 --> 00:43:57,538 -"My name is Camba, 690 00:43:57,638 --> 00:44:00,738 ABC, October 8th, 1913. 691 00:44:01,038 --> 00:44:05,038 -When a German enters a room, be it an aristocratic salon, 692 00:44:05,138 --> 00:44:07,338 or a guesthouse, 693 00:44:07,438 --> 00:44:09,538 -he makes a deep bow and says: 694 00:44:09,638 --> 00:44:12,038 My name is... [name of the German person] 695 00:44:12,088 --> 00:44:16,838 -I also want to introduce myself, the German way, when entering the ABC 696 00:44:17,218 --> 00:44:20,738 Can you picture me? with a poorly tailored tailcoat. 697 00:44:20,938 --> 00:44:24,038 -I go towards you dragging my feet. 698 00:44:24,038 --> 00:44:25,638 Suddenly I come to a sudden stop. 699 00:44:25,738 --> 00:44:28,938 -I bow martially as if I were receiving 700 00:44:29,038 --> 00:44:33,538 a military order from you and exclaim, not without a certain pompousness: 701 00:44:33,638 --> 00:44:34,938 my name is Camba! 702 00:44:35,538 --> 00:44:38,638 -German people often say other things too: 703 00:44:38,738 --> 00:44:40,238 What they do, what they gain. 704 00:44:40,438 --> 00:44:43,638 -Two years ago, I joined a newspaper in Madrid, 705 00:44:43,738 --> 00:44:45,338 just as I now enter ABC, 706 00:44:45,438 --> 00:44:48,838 and that newspaper used to tell its readers what I earned. 707 00:44:48,938 --> 00:44:52,938 -Later, they published my portrait, and the young girls would say 708 00:44:53,038 --> 00:44:54,538 -Well, he's quite chubby. 709 00:44:54,638 --> 00:44:59,308 -But if this guy earns enough, and manages it well... 710 00:44:59,638 --> 00:45:01,338 -And even His Majesty the King, 711 00:45:01,418 --> 00:45:05,038 who was informed about my salary by a journalist from the newspaper, 712 00:45:05,138 --> 00:45:07,838 acknowledged that I was splendidly paid. 713 00:45:07,938 --> 00:45:11,338 -To the readers of ABC, I won't tell them what I earn, 714 00:45:11,438 --> 00:45:13,338 -neither what I eat, nor what I weigh. 715 00:45:13,488 --> 00:45:17,038 -But I want them to know my name and become familiar with me. 716 00:45:17,138 --> 00:45:22,038 -Entering a newspaper is like entering the bosom of an unknown family. 717 00:45:22,238 --> 00:45:24,538 -I feel very inhibited at first. 718 00:45:24,588 --> 00:45:26,238 I don't dare to make any jokes. 719 00:45:26,288 --> 00:45:29,938 -During the first days, I am in the position of a shy man, 720 00:45:29,988 --> 00:45:33,038 -who, when being introduced into a house, sits 721 00:45:33,088 --> 00:45:35,938 with his knees together, with a very stupid expression, 722 00:45:36,038 --> 00:45:37,538 and starts talking about the weather. 723 00:45:37,638 --> 00:45:40,738 -Showing an interest in meteorological matters 724 00:45:40,788 --> 00:45:42,538 that is very far from feeling. 725 00:45:42,638 --> 00:45:44,438 -If someone tells the shy man 726 00:45:44,488 --> 00:45:47,638 to recount what someone told him on a certain day, 727 00:45:47,688 --> 00:45:49,838 -that story that is so amusing, 728 00:45:49,938 --> 00:45:53,838 he becomes annoyed, apologizes and finally starts the story and 729 00:45:53,888 --> 00:45:55,738 he ends up looking ridiculous. 730 00:45:55,888 --> 00:45:58,338 -I'm a shy writer. 731 00:45:58,638 --> 00:46:01,838 I write my articles as I write my letters. 732 00:46:01,938 --> 00:46:06,538 of course, I won't write to ABC readers for the first time 733 00:46:06,638 --> 00:46:08,738 as if writing to an old friend. 734 00:46:08,788 --> 00:46:11,088 -I need to believe that the reader already knows me. 735 00:46:11,138 --> 00:46:13,738 -That he is indulgent with my passions. 736 00:46:13,838 --> 00:46:16,238 -That he is used to my little paradoxes 737 00:46:16,288 --> 00:46:18,738 and doesn't take them entirely seriously. 738 00:46:18,958 --> 00:46:21,538 That he will read me, in short, as one reads a friend. 739 00:46:21,608 --> 00:46:24,288 -And that many times instead of getting angry with me, 740 00:46:24,338 --> 00:46:26,538 he will affectionately smile saying, 741 00:46:26,588 --> 00:46:29,188 What silly things this man comes up with. 742 00:46:29,238 --> 00:46:31,738 -Because I come up with many silly things. 743 00:46:32,038 --> 00:46:34,538 As soon as I have confidence with people, I tell them: 744 00:46:34,608 --> 00:46:38,538 -The thing is to pass the time, and I don't want to hush up a silly 745 00:46:38,588 --> 00:46:43,138 thing that can amuse us all just to pass as a serious and solemn man. 746 00:46:43,678 --> 00:46:46,738 -My name is Camba, and deep down, I'm a good guy. 747 00:46:46,758 --> 00:46:48,038 I have a German tailcoat, 748 00:46:48,088 --> 00:46:50,938 but I don't have any pretentiousness or affectation. 749 00:46:51,038 --> 00:46:54,538 -The idea I give you of Germany from this Berlin 750 00:46:54,638 --> 00:46:59,938 where I come sent by ABC will mostly be a personal idea. 751 00:47:00,138 --> 00:47:02,838 -And that's why I need you to get to know me 752 00:47:02,938 --> 00:47:04,538 before getting started 753 00:47:04,638 --> 00:47:07,688 so that you never take me entirely seriously. 754 00:47:07,738 --> 00:47:11,738 -Neither entirely seriously nor entirely as a joke". 755 00:47:12,238 --> 00:47:16,438 I think that here he describes himself quite well. 756 00:47:16,738 --> 00:47:18,138 Very well. 757 00:47:22,638 --> 00:47:26,838 -"A man is neither essentially good nor essentially bad. 758 00:47:27,538 --> 00:47:29,238 He is essentially absurd". 759 00:47:30,338 --> 00:47:34,338 I believe it fits well perhaps with what he could think of himself. 760 00:47:34,638 --> 00:47:38,938 -The technique of the caricaturist. He goes straight to what's essential. 761 00:47:39,038 --> 00:47:40,638 What does he have to do? 762 00:47:40,788 --> 00:47:44,348 What does he have to highlight from the reality he's commenting on? 763 00:47:44,838 --> 00:47:48,138 And he does it, but he doesn't comment on it as it is. 764 00:47:48,738 --> 00:47:50,938 He exaggerates like a caricaturist. 765 00:47:51,738 --> 00:47:55,238 What does he exaggerate? He exaggerates the expression. 766 00:47:55,538 --> 00:47:58,138 He makes a shorter nose or longer, 767 00:47:58,338 --> 00:48:00,638 bigger eyes or smaller 768 00:48:00,688 --> 00:48:05,338 to highlight that expression that characterizes the model. 769 00:48:05,538 --> 00:48:10,338 What he does is emphasize those little things 770 00:48:10,938 --> 00:48:14,838 that will give him material to write the article. 771 00:48:15,038 --> 00:48:18,038 To us, that literary article 772 00:48:18,138 --> 00:48:22,138 produces the same surprise as the caricature. 773 00:48:22,938 --> 00:48:26,138 What will the English be like as Camba describes them? 774 00:48:26,338 --> 00:48:30,038 There's no way British are as Camba describes them. 775 00:48:30,218 --> 00:48:34,538 But Camba says: a British is a British and can't be anything else. 776 00:48:34,638 --> 00:48:37,688 In the end, you become convinced that the British are like that, 777 00:48:37,738 --> 00:48:42,538 and when Queen Elizabeth II dies, you see what they stirred up for 778 00:48:42,638 --> 00:48:47,238 an uncountable number of days, and you say: well, Camba was right. 779 00:48:47,338 --> 00:48:49,638 -Camba was more an observer than a thinker. 780 00:48:49,638 --> 00:48:52,538 -"Camba was a skeptic, with no vanity. 781 00:48:52,638 --> 00:48:56,038 He didn't take himself seriously. He wasn't seduced by anything. 782 00:48:56,538 --> 00:48:59,438 neither fame, nor recognition, 783 00:48:59,538 --> 00:49:02,238 nor ostentation or wealth". 784 00:49:02,448 --> 00:49:04,938 That's how he expressed it in one of his most recognized 785 00:49:05,338 --> 00:49:08,238 phrases when he said: 786 00:49:09,038 --> 00:49:12,138 any showiness carries a hint of farewell. 787 00:49:13,538 --> 00:49:16,138 Opposite of immoral narcissism. 788 00:49:16,438 --> 00:49:19,688 The most pervasive political illness of this century 789 00:49:19,838 --> 00:49:22,038 that accompanies mediocrity. 790 00:49:22,538 --> 00:49:27,838 Skepticism and stoicism maintain a special balance in him. 791 00:49:28,638 --> 00:49:32,238 On one hand, he is capable of ridiculing adversity, 792 00:49:32,738 --> 00:49:35,838 here, he is Chaplinesque, skeptical. 793 00:49:35,888 --> 00:49:40,638 On the other hand, he's imperturbable, phlegmatic in the face of absurdity. 794 00:49:41,538 --> 00:49:43,938 Here, he is Keatonesque, stoic.". 795 00:49:44,538 --> 00:49:46,938 -He creates his own character. 796 00:49:47,338 --> 00:49:50,238 The humorous character is Julio Camba. 797 00:49:50,808 --> 00:49:55,038 He appears in all his writings as a naive being, 798 00:49:55,638 --> 00:49:58,938 who doesn't quite understand what is happening around him. 799 00:49:59,038 --> 00:50:04,838 Or skeptical, a very skeptical character when it suits him. 800 00:50:05,538 --> 00:50:08,538 And then, that's his great originality. 801 00:50:09,038 --> 00:50:11,938 He doesn't need anyone; he is the protagonist. 802 00:50:13,638 --> 00:50:18,138 -If he allowed it, Camba should be the protagonist of this documentary, 803 00:50:18,738 --> 00:50:21,438 but between Julio and Camba, there is a character 804 00:50:21,538 --> 00:50:23,238 created by him when he was very young 805 00:50:23,338 --> 00:50:27,538 who is the one who truly speaks to us through his articles and columns. 806 00:50:27,638 --> 00:50:31,238 A kind of skeptical, wise and with sarcasm. 807 00:50:31,338 --> 00:50:34,038 A Galician and cosmopolitan 808 00:50:34,138 --> 00:50:37,738 philosopher who never lets us see the person behind. 809 00:50:37,938 --> 00:50:41,138 What we know, from some people who knew him well, is that 810 00:50:41,238 --> 00:50:45,038 he was an extraordinary player and a great liver of life. 811 00:50:59,538 --> 00:51:04,538 (Calm music) 812 00:51:31,238 --> 00:51:34,438 -I've said it many times you have to read Camba 813 00:51:34,538 --> 00:51:36,338 before lunch. 814 00:51:36,738 --> 00:51:38,538 Because if you read him after lunch, 815 00:51:38,588 --> 00:51:41,338 you might end up with a significant stomachache. 816 00:51:41,438 --> 00:51:43,138 From laughter, I mean. 817 00:51:43,938 --> 00:51:46,938 So, Camba fasting, always fasting. 818 00:51:47,538 --> 00:51:50,038 -"May you always have a dietary regimen, 819 00:51:50,068 --> 00:51:53,238 a regimen against obesity, against arteriosclerosis 820 00:51:53,338 --> 00:51:55,138 or against anything else. 821 00:51:55,218 --> 00:51:58,438 When they give you bad food, rely on the regimen. 822 00:51:58,538 --> 00:52:02,188 However, when they offer you an excellent meal, 823 00:52:02,238 --> 00:52:03,938 send the regimen on its way. 824 00:52:04,038 --> 00:52:07,338 The best thing about any regimen is the pleasure of breaking it". 825 00:52:12,148 --> 00:52:15,338 -The only book that Julio Camba wrote on purpose 826 00:52:15,538 --> 00:52:16,738 was "La Casa de Lúculo". 827 00:52:16,838 --> 00:52:20,038 It is already considered by some people as his masterpiece. 828 00:52:20,138 --> 00:52:23,838 -I love that there is a person who has approached gastronomy 829 00:52:23,888 --> 00:52:25,338 with that point of view, 830 00:52:25,438 --> 00:52:28,938 almost narrating each dish as an adventure. 831 00:52:29,038 --> 00:52:32,638 -From my point of view, it is a total and absolute innovation. 832 00:52:32,688 --> 00:52:36,538 He doesn't write recipes, doesn't explain how to cook. 833 00:52:36,638 --> 00:52:39,508 I believe he's not interested in cooking at all. 834 00:52:39,538 --> 00:52:41,738 He's interested in what's cooked. 835 00:52:41,838 --> 00:52:45,538 He moved throughout Europe and had direct knowledge 836 00:52:45,618 --> 00:52:48,038 of the gastronomy of those places. 837 00:52:48,638 --> 00:52:50,938 Besides, he was a bon vivant, 838 00:52:51,038 --> 00:52:53,738 a person who liked to live well. 839 00:52:53,838 --> 00:52:57,138 Therefore, I am convinced that everything he tells 840 00:52:57,238 --> 00:52:59,938 are indeed personal experiences. 841 00:52:59,938 --> 00:53:02,838 -I really like how he narrates, how he tells 842 00:53:02,938 --> 00:53:05,638 and describes each culinary experience. 843 00:53:05,738 --> 00:53:10,138 -It's like a selection of short stories, his gastronomic experiences 844 00:53:10,238 --> 00:53:14,138 rather than a philosophy of what cuisine is. 845 00:53:15,138 --> 00:53:17,138 I remember now 846 00:53:17,188 --> 00:53:19,638 an article where he recounts that during his stay in London, 847 00:53:19,738 --> 00:53:22,038 they made him eat seagull eggs. 848 00:53:22,338 --> 00:53:26,638 He says: they tasted like sardines, but they tasted so much like sardines 849 00:53:26,688 --> 00:53:29,938 that for a while I couldn't eat sardines again because 850 00:53:29,988 --> 00:53:32,138 I remembered the seagull eggs. 851 00:53:32,238 --> 00:53:34,938 Interestingly, something unknown, 852 00:53:35,038 --> 00:53:38,538 but until recently, seagull eggs were consumed in Galicia. 853 00:53:43,538 --> 00:53:47,538 (Calm music) 854 00:53:57,538 --> 00:54:01,738 It also occurs to me how Camba approaches sardines. 855 00:54:02,238 --> 00:54:06,938 The topic of sardines, which he says are a rascal fish, 856 00:54:07,338 --> 00:54:11,138 that you can't eat at home with your legitimate wife, but you 857 00:54:11,238 --> 00:54:16,938 have to eat them out there, partying with friends and your mistress. 858 00:54:18,038 --> 00:54:22,838 And with your hands, no cutlery. 859 00:54:23,068 --> 00:54:26,138 And he seems a very neat person, 860 00:54:26,238 --> 00:54:30,138 in this case says: no, sardines must be eaten with your hands. 861 00:54:37,038 --> 00:54:42,638 A menu by Julio Camba has to be based on what he writes, 862 00:54:43,538 --> 00:54:46,538 not on his personal tastes 863 00:54:46,638 --> 00:54:50,838 because he was a French cuisine lover, 864 00:54:51,048 --> 00:54:55,938 and therefore, what we would get is an absolutely French menu. 865 00:54:56,038 --> 00:55:01,938 So, I think what we need to do is go look for those preparations, 866 00:55:02,038 --> 00:55:06,538 those products he talks about, and we have to make the pig fly. 867 00:55:07,338 --> 00:55:11,038 We need a cook with as much imagination as Camba 868 00:55:11,538 --> 00:55:13,538 and as sparking as Camba 869 00:55:13,678 --> 00:55:16,938 so that when they present a menu on the table, 870 00:55:17,038 --> 00:55:20,638 it surprises us and makes us say: Wow! 871 00:55:22,038 --> 00:55:23,238 A surprising menu. 872 00:55:23,738 --> 00:55:26,138 -I think he was a bit of a sybarite when it came to eating. 873 00:55:26,238 --> 00:55:29,538 Yes, from what he told me, just anything wouldn't do for him. 874 00:55:29,638 --> 00:55:33,738 -When he was in Vilanova, he didn't eat at his own home. 875 00:55:33,838 --> 00:55:35,538 He used to come to ours to have lunch. 876 00:55:35,638 --> 00:55:38,838 -And he told me, the first thing he did was 877 00:55:38,938 --> 00:55:43,938 going to the kitchen and uncover dishes to see what food there was. 878 00:55:44,038 --> 00:55:46,438 If there was a convincing dish, for him, 879 00:55:46,538 --> 00:55:48,938 he stayed. 880 00:55:59,538 --> 00:56:04,538 (Calm music) 881 00:56:23,538 --> 00:56:25,938 -For Julio Camba, the Ría de Arousa 882 00:56:26,038 --> 00:56:28,838 was one of the most marvelous landscapes that one 883 00:56:28,938 --> 00:56:32,338 could contemplate in the whole world. 884 00:56:32,738 --> 00:56:37,538 He needed to come here every time he returned from one of those trips. 885 00:56:39,538 --> 00:56:41,838 -It was a completely solitary beach, 886 00:56:41,938 --> 00:56:45,538 and he used to go at one o'clock because he used to wake up late. 887 00:56:46,038 --> 00:56:47,838 The "Con da Mina" beach 888 00:56:48,138 --> 00:56:53,338 There was a large rock and he would lie down on it. 889 00:56:54,338 --> 00:56:56,338 He did it completely naked. 890 00:57:01,738 --> 00:57:07,538 -A man wanted to learn English and went with Don Julio 891 00:57:07,638 --> 00:57:12,238 so that he could teach him English because Don Julio could speak English. 892 00:57:12,438 --> 00:57:16,138 -That man was my uncle, a close friend of Julio Camba's, 893 00:57:16,238 --> 00:57:19,838 the boatman who took him to swim at Terrón. 894 00:57:20,538 --> 00:57:22,938 -He had no money, so how did he pay? 895 00:57:22,938 --> 00:57:24,138 In chickens. 896 00:57:24,238 --> 00:57:28,838 -He had to exchange chickens for English lessons. 897 00:57:29,038 --> 00:57:32,838 He didn't learn English, I don't know if he learned something, 898 00:57:32,938 --> 00:57:37,038 but not English. He enjoyed the company of his friend. 899 00:57:39,738 --> 00:57:43,238 -For us, he was like family. 900 00:57:44,238 --> 00:57:47,138 He came to listen to the radio and eat 901 00:57:49,538 --> 00:57:52,938 And he spent the afternoons there, 902 00:57:53,038 --> 00:57:58,138 the cat would sit on his lap, 903 00:57:58,238 --> 00:58:01,338 and he spent the afternoons listening to the radio. 904 00:58:01,738 --> 00:58:04,138 Sometimes in a foreign language. 905 00:58:05,138 --> 00:58:07,538 He must have known several languages. 906 00:58:09,038 --> 00:58:12,738 -He always dressed elegantly; I always remember him with a tie. 907 00:58:12,838 --> 00:58:15,138 I never remember him in short sleeves. 908 00:58:15,238 --> 00:58:17,538 I don't know if maybe in the summer, playing. 909 00:58:17,638 --> 00:58:21,338 When he played poker, sometimes playing. 910 00:58:21,438 --> 00:58:25,138 But on the street, I never saw him in short sleeves. 911 00:58:26,038 --> 00:58:29,538 After lunch, he came to the casino; they played poker. 912 00:58:29,738 --> 00:58:34,038 He always played with his back against the wall. 913 00:58:34,138 --> 00:58:35,838 He didn't want onlookers. 914 00:58:37,238 --> 00:58:40,938 He lived here; in his house, he had a maid 915 00:58:41,538 --> 00:58:45,038 named Felisa, who was from San Miguel de Deiro. 916 00:58:45,638 --> 00:58:49,138 -He played cards with the maid, 917 00:58:49,438 --> 00:58:54,138 won, and he didn't pay her. 918 00:58:56,538 --> 00:58:58,538 He was a bit cheeky. 919 00:58:58,938 --> 00:59:01,938 But it was out of necessity. (Laughs) 920 00:59:03,038 --> 00:59:05,938 Because he never had a dime available. 921 00:59:06,238 --> 00:59:10,538 When he wrote to the editorials, they paid him, 922 00:59:10,638 --> 00:59:13,138 but it slipped through his fingers. 923 00:59:14,138 --> 00:59:17,138 He lived at the expense of his friends. 924 00:59:17,638 --> 00:59:19,838 Don Julio, the money is running out. 925 00:59:19,888 --> 00:59:23,038 Because they gave him money to support the household. 926 00:59:23,238 --> 00:59:24,738 Don't worry.' 927 00:59:24,838 --> 00:59:28,938 And that night he would send a couple of articles to ABC. 928 00:59:28,988 --> 00:59:30,538 Tomorrow we'll have money.' 929 00:59:30,638 --> 00:59:33,038 I don't know if it was ten thousand pesetas or so, 930 00:59:33,138 --> 00:59:35,738 a fabulous amount for that time. 931 00:59:35,838 --> 00:59:38,538 He was a pleasant man, people here loved him. 932 00:59:38,638 --> 00:59:43,138 Unlike Valle Inclán, whom people didn't love, they adored Julio Camba. 933 00:59:43,538 --> 00:59:47,338 I think that he was very Galician because that humor, cynicism 934 00:59:47,438 --> 00:59:50,938 that many want to attribute to him, for me, it's pure sarcasm. 935 00:59:51,138 --> 00:59:53,838 Pure sarcasm from an old Galician. 936 00:59:54,038 --> 00:59:57,138 -He embraced his Galician identity, 937 00:59:57,838 --> 01:00:01,738 I believe he didn't embrace it religiously or devoutly. 938 01:00:02,238 --> 01:00:06,338 He embraced it as a worldly man who knows he is born in a land. 939 01:00:08,038 --> 01:00:11,038 Galicia is a land of sardines and politicians. 940 01:00:11,088 --> 01:00:14,238 Sardines are born from each other, and politicians too. 941 01:00:14,288 --> 01:00:17,288 -To be a Galician politician, the first thing you need 942 01:00:17,338 --> 01:00:19,138 is to be a relative of another Galician politician. 943 01:00:19,188 --> 01:00:21,788 -The son of a Galician politician has ministerial status 944 01:00:21,808 --> 01:00:22,938 from birth. 945 01:00:22,988 --> 01:00:26,038 -The nephew has the status of undersecretary or director-general. 946 01:00:26,088 --> 01:00:27,738 -And so on. 947 01:00:27,838 --> 01:00:31,638 When one is not the son or nephew of a Galician politician, a rare thing, 948 01:00:31,738 --> 01:00:35,738 -given the reproductive faculty that characterizes this region, 949 01:00:35,838 --> 01:00:39,438 -then one has to make love to a daughter or a niece. 950 01:00:39,538 --> 01:00:42,038 -It should be noted that those who become related to 951 01:00:42,088 --> 01:00:44,738 the bigwigs of politics through this procedure 952 01:00:44,838 --> 01:00:46,538 -are called political relatives. 953 01:00:46,638 --> 01:00:49,838 Then the new politician goes to Madrid and starts asking. 954 01:00:49,938 --> 01:00:54,338 -He asks for ports, docks, bridges, streets, school groups, whatever. 955 01:00:54,438 --> 01:00:58,338 -One day, walking through the corridors of the congress with a political 956 01:00:58,538 --> 01:01:01,638 authority, we saw the shape of a fellow countryman deputy. 957 01:01:01,738 --> 01:01:03,838 -'We're going to give him the boot', the authority told me. 958 01:01:03,938 --> 01:01:06,738 -'Because as soon as I lose sight of him, that man takes a port from me. 959 01:01:06,838 --> 01:01:09,038 -Some people attach great importance to a port even if it's only 960 01:01:09,138 --> 01:01:11,538 worth 300 or 400 thousand pesetas. 961 01:01:11,638 --> 01:01:14,938 -Still, it's easier for a friend to give you a port 962 01:01:15,038 --> 01:01:16,838 than a bronze writing desk. 963 01:01:16,888 --> 01:01:19,138 Sometimes, to capture the minister's will 964 01:01:19,138 --> 01:01:21,538 the deputy asks for a box of cigars. 965 01:01:21,638 --> 01:01:23,738 -A box of cigars for a port? 966 01:01:23,838 --> 01:01:26,938 -Other times there were no ports available. A port? 967 01:01:27,038 --> 01:01:28,838 -Wouldn't a bridge be the same to you? 968 01:01:28,938 --> 01:01:30,438 -Well, I promised a port. 969 01:01:30,538 --> 01:01:33,838 -The allocation for these works is completely exhausted. 970 01:01:33,888 --> 01:01:36,338 Come on, give us a bridge, man. 971 01:01:36,538 --> 01:01:38,438 We can give you a magnificent one. 972 01:01:38,538 --> 01:01:40,138 The deputy was resigning himself. 973 01:01:41,238 --> 01:01:44,438 -If only we had a river!' he exclaims, already half convinced. 974 01:01:44,538 --> 01:01:48,338 -He would end up taking the bridge -The thing was taking something. 975 01:01:48,388 --> 01:01:51,138 -They gave a bridge to the town that needed a port, 976 01:01:51,188 --> 01:01:54,738 and those waiting for a bridge had to accept a school group". 977 01:02:00,538 --> 01:02:02,738 -He would let it be, letting time pass, 978 01:02:02,838 --> 01:02:06,738 and then he realized that he had 12 hours to submit the article. 979 01:02:06,838 --> 01:02:09,838 -Writing was a bit of the final stage. 980 01:02:09,938 --> 01:02:13,738 I think he had already worked out the articles in his head more or less. 981 01:02:13,838 --> 01:02:15,338 -That semi-spontaneity, 982 01:02:15,438 --> 01:02:19,168 but as it happened with what Churchill said about speeches: 983 01:02:19,938 --> 01:02:23,738 My impromptu speech took four or five hours to prepare. 984 01:02:24,038 --> 01:02:27,238 -'How do you write your articles?' a journalist asks. 985 01:02:27,838 --> 01:02:31,438 To write my article, I lock myself in a room in the afternoons 986 01:02:31,538 --> 01:02:32,738 with a bit of paper. 987 01:02:32,838 --> 01:02:35,938 There I start making efforts, and the article comes out. 988 01:02:36,438 --> 01:02:39,338 Sometimes it comes out easy, flowing, or abundant; 989 01:02:39,838 --> 01:02:43,138 other times it comes out hard, difficult, but it always comes out." 990 01:02:43,538 --> 01:02:46,538 -He asked the director of El Imparcial or El Sol, 991 01:02:46,738 --> 01:02:49,938 for a quick text. 992 01:02:50,438 --> 01:02:53,738 And he said: Julio, but I asked for less. 993 01:02:54,738 --> 01:02:58,838 And he says: but making it shorter would take me much more time. 994 01:02:59,738 --> 01:03:00,938 He wrote slowly, 995 01:03:01,038 --> 01:03:04,438 despite the thousands of articles he had written, he used to write slowly. 996 01:03:04,538 --> 01:03:07,338 He thought or reflected on what he had writen. 997 01:03:07,638 --> 01:03:09,738 He was a master of conciseness. 998 01:03:09,838 --> 01:03:13,538 -That's what he was gifted for, for very brief narration. 999 01:03:14,938 --> 01:03:17,238 On the other hand, 'cause he was lazy, 1000 01:03:18,538 --> 01:03:20,638 because he didn't like to write. 1001 01:03:21,068 --> 01:03:22,538 Because he suffered a lot, 1002 01:03:22,638 --> 01:03:25,738 every time he had to sit down with a paper to write 1003 01:03:25,788 --> 01:03:29,038 the article he needed to eat, if not, he wouldn't write it. 1004 01:03:29,538 --> 01:03:33,538 -Cursed be the man who invented the printing press. 1005 01:03:33,738 --> 01:03:37,138 -There are a few years when he writes more than 200 articles, 1006 01:03:37,238 --> 01:03:38,838 and that's a lot. 1007 01:03:38,888 --> 01:03:42,238 -But he didn't like to work because he was lazy, 1008 01:03:42,438 --> 01:03:46,838 or because he spent time watching life go by? 1009 01:03:47,138 --> 01:03:50,738 -He was so skeptical that throughout his life, 1010 01:03:51,058 --> 01:03:56,538 at many moments, it was evident that he didn't want to be anything special. 1011 01:03:56,638 --> 01:03:59,438 Not even a writer, not even a journalist. 1012 01:04:10,438 --> 01:04:15,438 (Calm music) 1013 01:04:24,838 --> 01:04:27,438 -The first downturn in Camba's decline 1014 01:04:27,538 --> 01:04:29,738 is undoubtedly World War I. 1015 01:04:29,788 --> 01:04:33,738 After World War I, he's not the same man as before. 1016 01:04:34,538 --> 01:04:37,238 And then the Civil War that ended up with him. 1017 01:04:37,738 --> 01:04:43,538 The Civil War left a tremendous mark on Camba's character. 1018 01:04:44,738 --> 01:04:48,188 It turned him into a shadow of what he was. 1019 01:04:52,258 --> 01:04:56,058 -It seems that writers are born young and are eternally themselves. 1020 01:04:56,098 --> 01:04:58,398 I think there was a moment when Camba said: 1021 01:04:58,438 --> 01:05:02,238 I'm going to be the Camba that I really am, the real person, 1022 01:05:03,638 --> 01:05:06,538 and we're going to get rid of the Camba writer step by step. 1023 01:05:06,938 --> 01:05:09,638 If necessary, because I need money, 1024 01:05:09,738 --> 01:05:11,738 well, I'll bring him out again. 1025 01:05:16,738 --> 01:05:19,938 I think he was a man burdened by loneliness. 1026 01:05:21,038 --> 01:05:24,038 Before, I thought he was a curious, restless man, 1027 01:05:24,338 --> 01:05:26,738 but I believe there comes a moment when he travels 1028 01:05:26,838 --> 01:05:28,838 to not feel the loneliness so much. 1029 01:05:29,138 --> 01:05:32,338 Because feeling alone in a foreign country where you don't know anyone 1030 01:05:32,438 --> 01:05:34,538 and you have to make an effort to meet people 1031 01:05:34,638 --> 01:05:37,138 seems more forgivable than being on your own. 1032 01:05:37,238 --> 01:05:40,538 But being on your own when you live in a city where you have friends 1033 01:05:40,638 --> 01:05:42,338 makes a big difference. 1034 01:05:42,738 --> 01:05:45,538 -Precisely, his closest friends 1035 01:05:45,638 --> 01:05:49,238 deceive him to move him with his few belongings 1036 01:05:49,338 --> 01:05:52,538 from the small room he occupied at Hotel Palace 1037 01:05:52,938 --> 01:05:59,538 to a Madrid clinic, where he dies on February 28, 1962. 1038 01:06:00,338 --> 01:06:02,838 Those last days were the only ones 1039 01:06:02,938 --> 01:06:06,038 when he couldn't take his daily bath. 1040 01:06:06,538 --> 01:06:09,838 After a long illness and a slow agony, 1041 01:06:09,938 --> 01:06:12,738 it is said that his last words were: 1042 01:06:13,538 --> 01:06:16,538 Life is beautiful, but it ends.' 1043 01:06:18,138 --> 01:06:21,538 Julio Camba, a leopard never changes its spots. 1044 01:06:21,838 --> 01:06:26,238 Even his biographers couldn't go further than he allowed them. 1045 01:06:26,338 --> 01:06:28,538 What he did leave us were his articles, 1046 01:06:28,638 --> 01:06:32,738 at least those collected in books that we can enjoy today 1047 01:06:32,838 --> 01:06:36,038 and recognize as masterpieces of journalism. 1048 01:06:36,138 --> 01:06:39,638 And many of his columns, however, are still to be unearthed 1049 01:06:39,738 --> 01:06:42,038 and compiled in complete works. 1050 01:06:42,338 --> 01:06:47,138 But be careful, go slowly, because Camba creates addiction. 1051 01:06:47,938 --> 01:06:50,038 We can definitely tell. 1052 01:07:04,238 --> 01:07:07,238 -For me, Julio Camba is a... 1053 01:07:07,538 --> 01:07:10,938 He is a complete mystery. 1054 01:07:11,138 --> 01:07:15,838 I can't understand his personality well. 1055 01:07:15,938 --> 01:07:19,338 I can't understand his personality. 1056 01:07:19,538 --> 01:07:25,008 He is a man of extraordinary literary talent. 1057 01:07:26,638 --> 01:07:30,238 However, he hates writing. 1058 01:07:32,538 --> 01:07:36,438 And then he is a guy who during his youth 1059 01:07:37,038 --> 01:07:41,238 has a very clear anarchist ideology and then 1060 01:07:42,538 --> 01:07:45,038 becomes a hedonist. 1061 01:07:46,238 --> 01:07:49,338 It seems to me that Camba doesn't believe in anything. 1062 01:07:49,438 --> 01:07:51,338 I think he didn't care about anything. 1063 01:07:51,438 --> 01:07:55,838 I think he was such a skeptical, absurd man that 1064 01:07:56,338 --> 01:08:00,438 he could spend a whole day sitting at a café table 1065 01:08:02,138 --> 01:08:05,238 looking out the window and watching people come in. 1066 01:08:06,038 --> 01:08:09,338 For me, that's the mystery of Camba, 1067 01:08:09,738 --> 01:08:12,838 he's an inexplicable character. 1068 01:08:18,138 --> 01:08:21,438 Then, it's a mystery. 1069 01:08:22,538 --> 01:08:27,538 It's a mystery how he can travel the world 1070 01:08:27,938 --> 01:08:31,638 without being interested in the things that the rest of us are. 1071 01:08:31,738 --> 01:08:37,238 He doesn't go to museums, he doesn't go to all the things tourists visit. 1072 01:08:37,438 --> 01:08:42,138 What matters to him is walking, what he likes is walking and observing. 1073 01:08:42,838 --> 01:08:45,138 And that, that's incredible. 1074 01:08:45,438 --> 01:08:48,638 That's enough for him to create those articles 1075 01:08:48,738 --> 01:08:51,738 that are authentic lessons in journalism 1076 01:08:52,238 --> 01:08:55,538 and authentic lessons in humor. 1077 01:09:00,538 --> 01:09:02,338 His ability 1078 01:09:04,538 --> 01:09:07,638 to humorously describe 1079 01:09:09,138 --> 01:09:11,058 things is prodigious. 1080 01:09:12,138 --> 01:09:14,538 It's absolutely prodigious. 1081 01:09:30,738 --> 01:09:34,538 I found the expression from him.