Pablo Barrios, diplomat and passionate defender of culture and the arts

Spanish diplomat Pablo Barrios. Ignacio Barrios (Courtesy)

For Pablo Barrios, there was nothing more important in life than friendship, culture and helping as much as possible to spread art and beauty and, in equal measure, selflessly contributing to solving people's daily problems from diplomatic posts. which he held during his career.

He was never appointed to an ambassadorial position, although he was one through the ranks, although that didn't bother him too much.

Born in 1944 in San Sebastián and graduated in Law, he entered the Diplomatic School in 1971 and his dissertation was on “Poetry and Society in Spain 1936-1951”, a true declaration of principles.

His essays and articles on cinema, poetry, politics, narrative and culture in general were published in numerous magazines throughout his life, but for those who knew him it was not even necessary to read it, because wherever you find him, well in the Círculo of Fine Arts in Madrid or sitting in a colonial park in Old Havana, he himself would improvise an impassioned course for you on the latest topic he was researching, whether it was the Cuban literary group Orígenes, Baudelaire, or the cinema of Tomás Gutiérrez Alea or Billy Wilder, a conversation that could go on forever.

He held various diplomatic posts in the United States and Europe and was also Minister Counselor in London and Consul in Bayonne, but his great vocation in the 21st century was America and especially Havana, where he arrived in 2007 as Consul General of Spain.

He later held the same position in Buenos Aires, between 2011 and 2014.

In the Cuban capital, Pablo Barrios became a legendary character due to his cultural projection, there was no relevant event in which you did not run into him, whether it was a concert by Pablo Milanés, at the Festival of New Latin American Cinema or at a contemporary art exhibition.

In Havana he was a friend and accomplice of the most important plastic artists, filmmakers, musicians, theater people, anthropologists like Natalia Bolívar, or great writers like Leonardo Padura, whom you could almost always find in his residence on Fifth Avenue, where every a certain time he used to throw big parties.

Out of friendship for him, the most popular dance music orchestra in Cuba, Los Van Van, played on more than one occasion for his guests, Cubans and foreigners passing through,

Pablo Barrios. Ignacio Barrios (Courtesy)

Brother of the late Cristina Barrios, one of the great references of the diplomatic career in Spain, ambassador in several countries and also in Mexico and a personal friend of Gabriel García Márquez, there was a moment when Cristina and Pablo coincided in time as consuls in Miami (her) and Havana (him), and that was the end: Cuban and Spanish culture then crossed bridges over the Straits of Florida and materialized in fabulous projects and exhibitions, such as those carried out by photographer Cristina García Rodero , intimate of the Barrios brothers.

For both of them, beyond pure and simple politics, art and cultural exchanges were the best vehicle to establish relationships.

As Consul General of Spain, Pablo Barrios was entrusted with the application of the Historical Memory Law in Havana ―in a few years, 120,000 Cubans of Spanish descent became citizens thanks to the law of the Government of José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero―.

Overwhelmed by the consulate by the presentation of thousands of files, Pablo always had as a maxim to apply the law in the most flexible way possible to help people and to be able to avoid bureaucratic sorrows, even if it was at the cost of his time and his subordinates.

Some of his colleagues did not look favorably on his generosity and dedication to service, as it made them look lazy or heartless, but his profile was, whenever the law allowed it, to make things easier and solve problems for others. citizens, whether national or foreign, humble or high.

Pablo Barrios was above all an excellent person, a cultured man, a devoted friend and an elegant gentleman of letters and the arts.

In his capacity as a cultural promoter, days before he died, on January 24 he sent this journalist one of his last articles published in the magazine Claves de la Razón Práctica on the "endearing carelessness" of style in the poetry of Fina García Marruz. .

Over the phone, with a small voice, he spoke passionately about the literary depth of this outstanding representative of the Orígenes group, now deceased.

In the Cuban cultural magazine La Siempreviva, which is directed by the Reynado González national prize for literature, he prepared an article-essay on the poetic vision of Luis García Montero, which will now come to light and is a symbol of his vital attitude and the legacy of he.