Interview with Pedro Ruiz, Artist

His mother, whom he adored and for whom he stopped working to care for during the last years of her life, is the focus of many of the framed photos that rest on the tables and shelves of his home in Madrid. Always prominently displayed. Following a preference order, various photographs of Pedro Ruiz at the sea, another of his great passions, appear alongside images with cultural personalities - a photo with Camilo José Cela in Stockholm, prior to receiving the Nobel Prize - as well as figures from the entertainment industry. The sound of the pool water, where he swims year-round, even in winter, reaches the porch of his home, and on the lawn of the garden, there are several soccer balls from the sport he continues to play with Real Madrid veterans. From this setting, he travels with VIAJAR to the places that have marked his life.

They have been the most beautiful of my life. One of the paradises of my childhood is Elciego (Álava), where we went with my father, who then worked as the chauffeur of the Marquis of Riscal. I also remember my uncles' houses in Soria and Valladolid, but above all Garraf, on the Barcelona coast, where my mother's ashes are scattered. When I am in Barcelona, I go to Garraf beach every day for lunch and dinner. I still have some friends in Elciego who are practically family. These are my first travel experiences.

The great journey is the one we take inside. Outside, we only run errands. Understanding other ways of life obviously puts yours into perspective, but my experience is that customs are very similar. Everything is encrypted in fear, hope, love, economy... There isn't much more. What moves me is nature.

I am truly moved by nature: canyons, gorges, beaches, mountains, nights, aromas... I consider the Great Wall of China or the Eiffel Tower to be small works of ants that populate the earth.

Seaside landscapes. To me, life is in the sea. Whenever I can, I go sailing. My best seaside vacations have been spent sailing in the waters of the Balearic Islands. I've also traveled several times to the Maldives; I've visited Tahiti, Cuba, the Caribbean... Floating in any sea is a way to disconnect from the daily negativity on land. In Madrid, I miss the sea and feel nostalgic for Barcelona.

Life started in the water. The sea is the amniotic fluid of humanity. The moment my body is submerged in water, it's as if I'm being reborn, and when I come out, I feel refreshed. That's why I swim in the pool even if it's snowing.

Regarding winter swimming in the pool of his garden, Pedro Ruiz shares a funny anecdote. A few years ago, when he came out of the water naked with the snow-covered grass, he heard a gardener behind the hedges telling his interlocutor: 'What, do you believe it now or not?'.

I have no fixations. However, I will not travel by plane unless there is a sea in between. They have turned air travel into something incredibly unpleasant. I can't stand airports.

I'm not one for museums or visiting the local monuments. When I don't have a show, I go to the movies or to the beach if the weather is nice and I'm on the coast. I'm a very solitary person.

For sure. You won't find me ever in New York or Tokyo. The crowding of people pushes me away. I don't like crowds, and I have no interest in visiting Japan or China. I wouldn't even go to see myself in a theater if there were seven thousand people. I like to get lost in Cadaqués, Garraf, or a small fishing village. There are three luxuries in life: sincerity, silence, and time.

The sense of humor isn't about countries; it's about people. The climate obviously affects your life outlook, but that's it.

I don't go for anything organized. And much less with schedules. I mainly seek peace. Last summer, I went to Begur, with my guitar and my notebook. I played soccer and swam in the morning, wrote in the late afternoon, played guitar at night... and took walks.

I don't know it, but I do know a district of Fuente Vaqueros (Granada) also called Pedro Ruiz, of which I am an adopted son, against the opinion of the municipal government at the time. They honored me in the street because the City Hall did not allow them to use its facilities.

To begin with, we do not know who we are ourselves. And we take a stranger on our journey as if it's nothing. Just imagine how the matter is. Suddenly, Bangladesh or Calcutta becomes fashionable, and one must go to India to be good. If to be good you have a hospital next to your house and a man who cannot eat in the house across the street... The great journey is inside; the rest are errands.

A swimsuit and a notebook, which is my preferred computer. I always carry a notebook like this one that I have in my hand.

'Life is a transitory landscape.' Pedro Ruiz has had to face his own ghosts in the most unexpected places on the planet. 'The first time I went to the Maldives, coinciding with the commotion created by the tax office against me, I was on Kurumba Island, and a gentleman approached me and said: 'I'm a photographer from Tarragona, and my name is Josep Borrell.' I said, well, here we are.' Pedro Ruiz relativizes the pressures and silences he endures for insisting on saying what he wanted to say at each moment. His freedom, according to his words, is above all. 'When I was a kid, my mother said in front of me to a man this phrase that has stuck with me forever: 'Look, I am free because I decide so, not because you allow me.' Anyone who renounces their freedom is a fool.' Another reflection from Pedro, which recalls the unforgettable parodies of El Séneca: 'Life is an anecdote, with a few minor mischiefs and a few beautiful things happening throughout it, and then we leave. Everything is a transitory landscape.' Once, in Moorea (Tahiti), while playing soccer barefoot with some kids, he realized that they were happy and that they only knew of our existence through Barça and Madrid. They didn't need more.