A path that is actually a journey into oneself. Miguel Ángel Tobías, creator of the Spaniards in the World format, makes this unique journey in the documentary series El Camino Interior in which “all human beings who travel the Camino de Santiago, regardless of their beliefs, do so with a feeling of to do an exercise in introspection and to stop this tremendous speed at which we move and that leads us to feel that we are not living the life we want to live,” says Tobías in conversation with La Vanguardia.
The documentary series, which airs on Sundays at 12 noon on La 2 and is also available on RTVE Play, covers 16 stages of the Camino de Santiago, from León to Finisterre, while reflecting on important life issues such as love, friendship, fear, loneliness, mental health, family, grief or work.
Tobías decided to film the series after the pandemic and observing the emotional and existential psychological consequences it left around the world. The Camino de Santiago, “with that environment and that contact with nature, was perfect for reflecting on the meaning of life and generating deep conversations.”
Tobías wanted to travel the path accompanied by 16 people who had experienced a serious crisis and who had been forced to reflect on their own lives. How it happened to him, who claims he has been close to dying three times. In fact, “of the 17 walkers that we are, including me, 14 have been on the verge of death.” Among the guests are the surgeon Mario Alonso Puig, the late neuropsychiatrist José María Poveda, the psychologist Alejandra Vallejo-Nágera, the mountaineer Edurne Pasaban, the tenor and comedian José Manuel Zapata and the TVE presenter, Quico Taronjí.
Among the reflections of the series, Tobías highlights his favorite: life is on the other side of fear. “One of the great things that we as human beings have to understand is that if we are not able to face and overcome our fears, which we all have or will have in our lives, it is impossible for us to live a full life. On this side of fear is subsistence and on the other side is living a life with capital letters.”
“It is essential to ask for help in this crazy world in which we have to live,” continues the director of the series, who points out that in a few years, mental health will be the first cause of work absenteeism. “We have to eliminate that stigma of not wanting to show ourselves vulnerable; We all are and if we ask for help we will be able to get ahead and resolve any emotional situation we are experiencing.”
Another message that the series conveys is to insist that “the best way to honor the privilege and miracle of being alive is to live precisely the life that each one feels they want to live. And that is also possible.” And a third message that Tobías hopes will reach the audience is that “life gives us the opportunity to be reborn without having to die; Every time we are aware that there is something in our life that we do not want, we have to be willing to fight to change it.”
Tobías is proud to have received many messages from viewers, including mental health professionals, who have already seen the series (it was available on Movistar Plus) and who thank him for his ability to improve their psychological and emotional state. “The Interior Path is made with a lot of head but from the heart. In addition to being a pleasure to see in itself, it has great therapeutic value.”
And he issues a challenge: “We have talked about such a wide and heterogeneous range of topics that I challenge any viewer to tell me that they have not found any chapter with which they cannot identify and feel that there are concrete messages that they can apply in their life.” .
