In Badaq, a novel that denounces greed, religious fanaticism and the destruction of nature by man, Carlos Bardem (Madrid, 1963) uses the literary formula of the fable to put us in front of the mirror as a species . The main protagonist is a female rhinoceros that arrives in 16th century Madrid as a gift for Felipe II. A real story that points out human arrogance: "In any process of conquest, the first thing is to place the conquered in a position of inferiority. It is what has happened since man has been man with nature".
Bardem explains that with age he understood that the main revolution that humanity needs is the one that will promote environmentalism: "At university, worried about the class struggle, I thought that saving whales was something for bourgeois and amateurs. After collaborating with Greenpeace on several campaigns, I realized how wrong I was: the deepest criticism of this economic model based on consumption and depleting the resources of an already darkened planet comes from environmentalism."
The writer dedicates the new novel to his nephews, Leo and Luna (sons of his brother Javier and Penélope Cruz), with the hope placed in the new generations: "For them I am 'uncle brother' , because my brother and I call each other that way (laughs), and I really enjoy it. I think they have two or three years to read Badaq; when the time comes, I trust you will enjoy it. If there is eco-anxiety, I bet on eco-hope: young people come with a different mental structure and our responsibility is to help them achieve a change and find a solution".
Carlos is doubly lucky: after the success of El elegido on Netflix, he is about to premiere the second season of Álex de la Iglesia's 30 Coins on HBO Max. Is being an atheist an advantage for acting without prejudice? "In the first I am an evangelist pastor and, in the second, a narco-satanic cardinal. In both my name is Cruz. At least I know that the cross is very present in the collective subconscious."
