Q. What inspired you to become a guide?
I never planned to be a guide, but I have been one for 12 years now. After traveling for a year through Asia and Latin America, I had the opportunity to be a guide for the first time in Chile. A whole new world opened up for me: the interaction with people, meeting hundreds of individuals each year from all over the world, the ability to share my love for my homeland with others, being able to share everything I know, and never stopping to learn! Being a guide fulfills me; I love my job, and it gives me the action and variety I need.
Q. What do you love most about Barcelona?
I love Barcelona and its surroundings—everything is within an hour: The Pyrenees, La Costa Brava, The Vulcanic Zone of La Garrotxa, Priorat Wine Country… Sharing that with our visitors is priceless. People come here for two days and want to stay for a week, and those who come for a week start looking at apartment prices to rent and live here for a while.
Q. What's your favorite story to tell on tour?
I love bringing visitors closer to the personal stories of the vendors we visit. Some of them are incredible, like Pepe from our Barcelona Tapas, Taverns & History Tour. In the mid-20th century, during the dictatorship, the port was a great source of money and job opportunities so people migrated to Barcelona from all corners of Spain in search of a better life. At 13, Pepe left school and had to start working washing dishes at small bodega where he still works more than 50 years later.
