Mxim Huerta: "I will accept being a minister again and again" - The Province

Writer and journalist. 'With love was enough, which is now in its fourth edition, is "a hymn to the beauty of the different," says the Valencian, who this Thursday presents in the cycle 'Seas of paper' de Mazarrón which is his eighth novel. He says that the Mediterranean helps him to disconnect "from the current angry situation that dirties politics and society." Was minister, brief but minister, "and would accept the position again", He says. "We should all have a minister inside," he adds.

The writer and journalist Màxim Huerta (Utiel, 1971) closes tonight the cycle of literary encounters 'Mares de papel', which has been held since July 13 at the Mirador de Bahía de Mazarrón (together with the Club de Regatas). Although in recent years His fame has been linked to his work as a member of the Ana Rosa program (Telecinco) and, above all, his brief stint at the head of the Ministry of Culture and Sports –A charge that lasted just seven days–, the Valencian has been cultivating his role as a writer for more than a decade. So immersed in a new professional stage after his brief walk through the world of politics, Huerta arrives in Mazarrón to present his latest novel, Love was enough (Planet, 2020), which narrates life seen through the eyes of a child who discovers that he can fly; a work that mixes reality and fiction until it achieves a charm of tenderness and charm. The author attends our call from his vacation retreat.

P He was born in Utiel, grew up in Buñol, studied in Valencia ... And he still chooses the Costa Blanca as a refuge. What connects you so strongly to the Mediterranean?

R The family. To be on this earth is to be close to family, She is my mother, they are my cousins ​​and she has everything I like. That mixture of the rural and the cosmopolitan, the sea and the climate. I feel at home and that's the best feeling there is.

P His book, on the other hand, speaks of the different, of what is beyond the norm. Specifically, from special people, from different people. Is it considered that way?

R We are all rare, special, particular and, ultimately, unique. This book is a hymn to the beauty of difference. Just as I find a land in which you have totally opposite places to each other, with millions of hiding places and secrets, it is the same with people. In those details I find the exquisiteness of beauty.

P We have all wanted at some point in our life to stand out, but at the same time we marginalize the different.

R I think that is why he is liking the book so much. Everyone has felt different at some point, looked at, underlined, questioned and is reflected. There are still many people who carry backpacks of prejudice and intolerance and that makes everything different is always questioned. The one who has another accent or skin color, another way of being or of moving when that is the beauty, the mixture, the difference, what we later look for when we travel abroad.

P The protagonist of With love was enough discovers that he can fly and that this makes him unique, what is flying for you?

R Flying is feeling free, happy, it is feeling that you are doing what you want. Since we were children we have all dreamed of flying. Our superheroes have always flown, even Mary Poppins and Peter Pan. I look back and remember when I dreamed of flying tying a sweater around my neck.

P He wrote this book during a retreat in Provence after closing a stage and, like the one who says, he has just seen the light. Another stage in television has also closed. Are you going to take a break?

R Am already working on an upcoming novel, this place is that it is an engine for me. I sit at home and that makes my mind calm, ideas flow more and novels are born.

P It never seems to rest.

R As an author you never rest because you always pay attention to what someone has said, how they move, what they say... Everything you live is good for a novel. It's not that there are muses, I don't believe in them, but if you observe a lot, that helps you write. Even though I'm sunbathing, my head is spinning ideas.

P What has been your best television experience?

R Perhaps surprising, but cover the conclave of Pope Francis For me it has been journalistically the wildest, most attractive, interesting and even cinematic experience of my life. It is everything a journalist can imagine and wish for.

P Journalist, writer, presenter, minister ... He is a truly multifaceted man. In what role are you most comfortable?

R Telling stories. Being a journalist is also telling stories. If you have them calmly and they allow you to do it, it is the most beautiful way to do it. All the writers before have been journalists: Mariano José de Larra, García Márquez and even Delibes. I think that is the natural way.

P Where does your interest in politics come from?

R We should all have a minister within us. A critical minister, who values, who is interested, who is capable of looking at life with the eyes of public service. Regardless of the party, I am not talking about trends. Politics does not have to be something of others, it has to be something of ours, and between all of us, to build.

P And did you ever think about taking the plunge?

R No never. I have not been to any game, nor am I, nor have I ever been on lists. I was simply offered to be a minister and it seemed like an immense responsibility, attractive and interesting, which I would accept again and again, because I think it is one of the most beautiful things you can do as a citizen for your country: try to change it for the better.

P What do you think of the current political landscape?

R It seems to me that he is very bronco, very dirty, and we all contribute to that noise, also the citizens, and the noise is not good for the country.

P Do you think that the transmission and defense of culture occupies the place it deserves?

R No, there is an overly critical and tortuous view of culture. You will die, I will die, the newspaper readers will die and what will remain is the flavor of our recipes, songs, rondallas, movies, books, our parties, Holy Week, everything survives us.