Athenea Pérez, representative of Murcia, has won Miss Universe Spain 2023 in a final held at the Hotel Los Olivos Resort in Tenerife. The candidates from Valencia and the Canary Islands also reached the final, although they could not prevail over the beauty of the Murcian.
Athenea's victory marks the eleventh time that a representative has been crowned Miss Universe Spain since the pageant began in the country. In this way, she joins a group of renowned Spaniards who have represented Spain in the history of Miss Universe, including Amparo Muñoz, the only Spanish winner of the pageant in 1974, or Carla Barber.
Daughter of a Murcian father and a mother from Equatorial Guinea, Athenea has endured harsh racist attacks on social networks, questioning her suitability to represent Murcia for not being white. "I know that she is pretty, but aren't there white women in Murcia?", "It is always preferable that she was Murcian by blood", "she has nothing of Murcian", are some of the comments that the young woman has had to listen to and read.
But Athenea was not intimidated by these attacks. Instead of backing down and giving in to her criticism, she chose to confront her detractors with courage and dignity, defending her identity and her right to represent Murcia.
Not only did he do it through social networks, in which he has several thousand followers, but he also took advantage of television programs such as El programa de Ana Rosa to publicly denounce the racist attacks he had suffered and reaffirm his love for the land. who saw her grow up.
Now, with the crown of Miss Universe Spain 2023 on her head, Athenea Pérez has her eyes set on the next edition of Miss Universe, where she will represent Spain.
