Lola Ferrer Pujol: the director of destiny
William Shakespeare said, “Destiny is the one that shuffles the cards, but we’re the ones who play.» Lola Ferrer studied to become a teacher «almost by chance». For many years now she’s headed S’Olivera, one of the most innovative public schools in Ibiza. Its ethos is that students ‘learn by doing’.
“A laidback, cheerful atmosphere is more conducive to learning, and that’s what we try to create at the school,” she says. “With respect for each and every person, whether young or old, whether we agree or disagree. Having confidence in yourself and the people around you, and the expectation that every day will be better than the day before.” Ferrer Pujol suggests that we must all learn from our mistakes, and not be afraid to make them.
Things can be tough though. “One of the most frustrating things is being unable to get a smile out of a child who hasn’t had a good day.” And Ferrer Pujol struggles with “the excessive bureaucracy. It takes up a lot of the time that we could use to do what we are best at, which is being with the children.”
Success to Ferrer Pujol is “overcoming obstacles and getting a hug from one of the children after a tough day. Teaching is my vocation! It’s why I am here.” Inspiration indeed.
Javier Pérez de Arévalo: the last lighthouse keeper at La Mola
Javier Pérez de Arévalo finds his dog inspiring. “My dog is happy, he doesn’t pay taxes, and there’s always someone willing to rub his belly when he asks for it,” says La Mola’s former lighthouse keeper. Pérez de Arévalo is also the author of over 40 symphonies and has a doctorate in history, a degree in philosophy, and a master’s in bioethics. In his spare time, he’s published several books about Spanish and Balearic lighthouses.
Pérez de Arévalo became a professional lighthouse keeper so that he could “live surrounded by nature and be isolated enough to write music.” and as a “strong, adverse reaction to the conventional path” (he was studying composition at the Conservatorio). He doesn’t believe in success. Because, he says, «We’re all a combination of successes and failures, no matter how much money, fame, or power we may have accumulated in our lifetime.
If you think about it, every living being is simply a huge failure when faced with the fact that death is inexorable.” He acknowledges that he’s made, “so many mistakes that I couldn’t possibly mention just one”, but, even so, he’s had the “tenacity, tenacity, tenacity” to achieve whatever he’s set out to do.
A word of advice for other lighthouse keepers? “If it works, don’t touch it!”
Jordi Sunyer Bonet: A very fine sense of hearing
“From a very young age, music has always played a key role in my life. I lost my sight at three, so the sense of hearing became critical for me.” Ibizan native Jordi Sunyer Bonet has no doubts about it: music is his passion, his escape, his form of entertainment. And now, at age 22, it’s also become his profession.
Sunyer Bonet is a resident at Glow and a guest DJ at the legendary water party at the club Es Paradis, in Sant Antoni, where he’s been working for three seasons now. “When I was 18, I met Steeve Valverde and my friends and I convinced him to give me lessons over the winter. And guess what? By the following summer, we were sharing the booth!” This season Sunyer Bonet will play at Cova Santa and every Tuesday on Pure Ibiza Radio.
A documentary is also being made about the young DJ’s extraordinary life. For Sunyer Bonet, success means “working in a field that you like”, and he is inspired by “people who have turned their passion into their job!” Take note, because here’s what you need to do to achieve this: “Don’t try to be someone you aren’t, enjoy what you do, and never give up.” For all that, our DJ still believes that he’s been “very fortunate”.
Estella Matutes Juan: the oncologist who fainted at the sight of blood
Inspired by the Theory of the Unconscious and by its author, Sigmund Freud, Estella Matutes Juan enrolled in medical school in the hope of later switching to psychology. Today, she has built an outstanding career as a researcher. Not only has she become an authority in the field of haematological oncology, specialising in research on lymphatic leukaemia, she’s also an expert in diagnostics and the herapeutic aspects of the disease.
Matutes recalls that her mother, “was surprised when I chose this field, not just because there were no doctors in the family, but also because when I was younger I would faint at the sight of blood!” Success in this field, she says, is “very different compared to other professions.” For Matutes and her colleagues, success is achieved by, “finding ways to improve, alleviate and cure patients and obtaining positive results in research projects. We observe the impact our knowledge has in scientific media, especially on junior researchers.”
Matutes has some advice for those embarking on a career in science: “You should realize that success isn’t an individual achievement, it is something attained as a team by collaborating and exchanging ideas. And you must be altruistic, in a sense, because often there are no direct material benefits to the job. It benefits humans as a whole, and it’s important to keep this in mind.”
David Marqués: a champion script
It was the highest-grossing film in Spain in 2018 – winner of two Goya Awards, including one for Best Film, as well as many other distinctions. Yes, we’re talking about Campeones, a screenplay written by Ibizan native David Marqués that has managed to make all of Spain laugh, cry, and awaken their consciousness. All this has happened 20 years after Bocanadas, David’s first short film about “a guy talking to himself in a bar, [which was made] with no money and no training, without having studied film or screenwriting or anything, and on an island like Ibiza, with no film industry.
We won several festivals, and that’s how it all began.” He continues “Ever since I can remember, I’ve always loved the cinema. Fortunately, in my town (Sant Antoni), we had the Torres and Regio cinemas, which have always done very well. And I had a VHS my father bought. I rented every film I possibly could!”
The best advice he’s received, he fondly recalls, was from the great filmmaker Antonio Isasi. “He really helped me a lot, finally there was someone in my life who was a legend in the world of film! I always listened to whatever he had to say. Sadly, he never got to see Campeones,” David laments. “Beut he was always a huge fan of mine. He loved Aislados, which is the film I most enjoyed making. Although Campeones has brought nothing but good news, and hopefully this will never end. And if it does end, I hope the American remake kicks ass.”
