Juan Luis Cano and Guillermo Fesser are Gomaespuma and they are unique. We present them taking their last name in alphabetical order to avoid a hilarious argument about which of the two is older. They were born at the beginning of May of the same year and two days of difference between one birth and another, in their hands are enough for a Council of Trent. And they are unique because although they closed the shutter on their program in 2008, they have managed to maintain – without effort – the myth of a way of doing radio and understanding life.
Humor and the value of human emotions are the pillars of their character and they demonstrate it again with their latest initiative: Pa tós Marathon, the shortest race in the world, which will be held for the first time in the History of Humanity next Sunday October 8 at the Vallehermoso Stadium in Madrid. Brand of the house, this initiative is in favor of the Gomaespuma foundation and they will be accompanied by the cast of the movie Campeonex.
I don't know of another case of two people who have worked together for so many years in a media outlet and continue to be friends, collaborating together and leading the Gomaespuma foundation. And also, with so much drawing power 15 years after closing.
JL: I think it is due to the medium in which we developed our career, which was the radio, a medium that enters your home and becomes part of your intimacy. And even more so at that time, we started in 1981 with a program called El Flexo and the following year we became Gomaespuma. Today radio has to compete not only with TV, but with platforms, podcasts, YouTube, social networks...
G: The Gomaespuma concept is not the Juan Luis and Guillermo that people remember at 40 years old, with darker hair, blonder Juan Luis, and a different energy. Now we are inviting people to enjoy the Gomaespuma concept with this Marathon.
JL: As for remaining friends, I think the formula is respect for each other. Knowing that what is common is a project and not the person.
G: Imagine that the two of us were like the bottle and the bottle, right? Well, as a bottle holder, I know that the bottle cap is essential.
JL: Be careful, the bottle is the one that breaks (laughs). Apart from that, we have an instrument in our favor, which is humor. Although some consider it a second-order discipline, it is what makes you really happy. People have linked the image of Gomaespuma to a happy moment. And that is very important.
G: And that is what we are inviting on Sunday the 8th, to come and have a good time, to enjoy, to be happy with your family, with your dog, with your partner or with your parents. Although we also caused tears: I would give Juan Luis a few pinches in the studio that you can't see. That brought us more audiences, of course.
JL: Or when Guillermo's image came out: releasing his image is very sad. But seriously, we also lived through very hard times, like when we did interviews in terrible places like Calcutta, Bosnia, Kosovo, etc.
How did the idea for this peculiar marathon come about?
JL and G: The truth is that we don't think about how to be more original than anyone else; We have always done what came to mind by chance. Gomaespuma invented the concept Flamenco pa tós, a participatory project to bring great themes or artists closer to people, which was followed by Magia pa tós. In this case we have turned it around: let the people do something, an activity for everyone outdoors, with family or friends, and for all ages. And for everyone to do it, the twist is that it was the shortest marathon in the world, which really makes it accessible: 42 meters and 19 centimeters.
Your foundation includes the Think Equal socio-emotional education program, which seeks to train the little ones in managing their emotions and in empathy and respect for others. Did you implement it because the Administration does not do it?
JL and G: We are not going to blame anyone; This is a very new thing and basically it means that boys and girls between three and six years old, the age at which you retain everything like a sponge and still have the ability to surprise yourself and form your ideas, learn things as basic as that in humans there is no white race, black race or yellow race: if you take the Pantone, no man is black like the school blackboard. And no lady is ivory white or the color of the cardboard they make crafts with. What is taught is that we are all brown, but of different shades. And when you teach that, which seems nonsense, you are forming in a little person the idea that we all belong to something, to a tribe, and then there is no longer Real Madrid and Barça, but football. There are testimonies that bring tears of emotion when they see how children are able to express their feelings. A sulky boy or girl comes to the teacher, what's wrong with you Paquito? 'No, nothing', and it's very difficult to get anything out of it. But if you teach a child to express that when he feels euphoric he is red, when he is depressed he is yellow and if something hurts he is green, it happens that he goes to the lady to ask why Margarita is green today. And then, it happens, a debate opens in the class about why Margarita is green and everyone collaborates to help her.
Furthermore, socio-emotional education gives instruments to human beings who are beginning to be human beings to face life in a different way, to educate themselves from the beginning in equality at all levels. And with emphasis on something that can no longer be turned back: equality between women and men. We hope there are no more Rubiales in life.
But the reactionary forces are powerful.
JL: Vicente Ferrer told me something many years ago, in a tribute that we presented. I was having a somewhat delicate moment and he told me, “Don't be pessimistic because the bad people in the world are fewer than the good ones. It is true that they are noticed and many of them have a lot of strength, but in the end kindness always triumphs.”
G: I'm going to qualify; I think there will always be Rubiales but the great advance is that when there is another case, society does not tolerate it and supports people who are harassed. The wonderful thing about this World Cup is that there have been two victories, the sporting victory and the rights victory.
However, on social networks it is possible to spin the matter to blame or point the finger at the victim. And other examples: I remember that Guillermo wrote a thread on Twitter to respond to an individual who questioned who Cándida was in your life. It is disheartening to be forced to explain our privacy. Just ten years ago this did not happen.
G: It is a complex moment and we are all learning. I have learned that I no longer have to respond to everyone who comes out there, especially if they are not willing to listen to my response. This era is not going to go down in the history of humanity as the golden age of anything in general. What we must be clear about is that not all games are won in the Champions League: you have to think that to reach the Champions League and win it, you first have to score a goal in the schoolyard at the age of 12. Like the parable of butterfly wings and movement and the famous Theory of Chaos: the small, the everyday, is important and by this I mean how important are small gestures like buying a bib for the Gomaespuma Foundation and going on a Sunday to tomorrow to Vallehermoso.
G: I think the problem is more about specific cases like Candida. There have been fools all our lives, bar counter idiots. What happens is that now they have a very large bar that generates a lot of resonance; The problem is society is losing its critical sense. That is to say, if I wanted to I would only receive messages from people I want to receive because they reinforce my ways of defending. I block the rest and leave it. And fuck it. That's the sad thing. That we are left with an absolutely radicalized and homogeneous society on one side or the other, confronted and without a critical sense. On the other hand, there is Instagram, which is also doing a lot of harm by encouraging people to stay on the surface, basing their lives exclusively on images. And it's another shit. Because life is not that.
Juan Luis, could you summarize why I am going to love your novel Yo fue santa?
Well, I don't know if you're going to love it. It would be my dream. But I think it is a novel that tells an interesting story. At least according to critics; I think it is a good story, well structured and with a good ending, it is very difficult to finish stories. I have written it in a very honest way, like everything I do in my life. And in literature more, it is my fifth novel. And I have always written in a very honest way.
Guillermo, I ask you why it influences all of us, from Idaho to Tomelloso. Do you think that if Trump runs again, if the open processes do not prevent him from doing so, he can win the elections again?
I believe that he will run and that he will be very fair, but not that he will be elected. I think that the young people of the United States who are not interested in Trump at all but are not interested in Biden at all, nevertheless know that Trump is the end of things and they are going to save our asses. They saved it for us in 2020 and I think they are going to save it for us again.
