Getting rid of the military has always been an art. There were several legal loopholes: flat feet, myopia, astigmatism... Having money or becoming friends with a doctor were other feasible ways. But then there were those who not only wanted to do it, but also asked to do it again, like Josep Satorres, a young man who was assigned to Madrid in the 19th century and fell in love with the city and the festival. He enlisted three times in the army as long as he could stay in the capital to enjoy his bars and cabarets. On the fourth, they returned him to his native Fraga, Huesca, where he decided to put an end to the family farming tradition and open the Josepet café, which he turned into the nerve center of the municipality.
Thus began a dynasty of entrepreneurs dedicated to entertainment, which is already in its sixth generation and which, from the most absolute humility, have contributed to changing and making the entertainment sector evolve in Spain, with emblematic venues such as the Florida135 nightclub, cinemas Florida and Victoria, the latter now converted into a car park, or the techno festival of the Monegros desert.
Juan Arnau fondly remembers his great-great-grandfather from the spectacular and hallucinogenic headquarters of Elrow, in Pedralbes, where he receives his guests next to a statue of Groucho Marx, with a smile and a fog like the one some singers use in their concerts. "It is a way of telling them that as soon as they enter through this door, the show begins," he explained to La Vanguardia.
The Aragonese businessman, already retired, created Elrow together with his wife María Cruz Lasierra, one of the most popular and profitable nightlife phenomena in Spain and the world, since it bills around 33 million euros per year. Their traveling parties, which until not so long ago had their own venue in Viladecans, where they began with morning sessions, are more than just music. "They are fun," he specifies. In them you can see walking, giants and other extravagant characters.
His sons, Juan and Cruz, together with the businessman Vicens Martí, are the ones who are now behind this conglomerate and the Monegros Desert Festival, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2023, which has led them to build an engineering work that they have named the 'Cathedral of Techno', and which can be enjoyed from July.
“In 1993, 200 friends got together at the Las Peñetas farm, the same one that my ancestor Josepet lost playing cards but later recovered, to celebrate a barbecue and things grew so much that this past summer we were already about 55,000”. Of these, some 25,000 attendees were foreigners, which shows the work and obsession of the family to internationalize.
Although music and dance are always present, Arnau chooses to leave his comfort zone and does so now by delving into literature, but "not with the desire to become a writer, but rather to share our crazy experiences, which would be good for for a movie." The result is Bailar en el desierto (Grijalbo), a novel that has just hit bookstores (and reached its second edition in a few days) and that he hopes to see on the big screen one day —he is already in negotiations for it—, into a comic and even turn it into a musical. "From time to time, I'm stubborn," he admits smiling.
From one of the sofas in the Barcelona mansion, dedicated exclusively to the Rowgelia hen, the official mascot that looks gigantic in the garden, he remembers his ancestors and his happy childhood. “I lived in the Victoria cinema and I grew up with the orchestras next door. Since I was little I have loved both parties and the cinema, which, much to my regret, I think its days are numbered. And I have seen how the Florida 135 discotheque became a symbol of the country for being one of the most modern and transgressive of the moment, since many DJs passed through there who later went to festivals like Sónar. Before, when the venue was an orchestra room, we hosted Antonio Machín and Xavier Cugat”.
His dedication to trying to be ahead of his time with each of the businesses that the family ran led Arnau and his wife (“we go everywhere together”) to travel around the world to find out about new trends, even sneaking into illegal raves. This effort was compensated by the massive attendance of the public at its premises and celebrations.
“This is thanks to the fact that we follow two mottos that Josepet and my grandfather already had then and that have passed from generation to generation. The first, make sure that people have fun and dance, because if they don't, the business doesn't work. The other is basic: either you innovate and transgress, or you are dead. It is very important to listen to the new generations. They no longer have a club culture. In fact, many discos, especially macros, are disappearing. I could look the other way and say that this is no longer my business. But it's not like that. It is important to observe. Young people prefer to take a plane and go to a festival. It's something my generation couldn't do, but theirs could. We can lament that they no longer come to the premises or try to find a plan B. And I think you already know which option the Arnaus always choose”.
