Piti Alonso: "I'll organize the Goya red carpet for you as well as the NATO one"

We meet on the heights of Picalagartos, a popular cocktail bar in one of the already highly valued rooftops of Madrid hotels in this summer that is just beginning.

Here, Piti Alonso knows —and they know him— everyone, like almost everywhere.

He comes from rags to present the Gay Pride acts: last night he was, very formal, shepherding the celebrities who attended the Luz Casal concert at the Teatro Real and, tonight, he will put on his best clothes for the presentation of the Locomía documentary.

not stop

Perhaps for this reason, in order not to stain the red carpets with mud that he treads daily for work, he avoids getting into puddles in the conversation, at least with the recorder on, using sarcasm and ellipses to wade through them.

Looking at him deep in his eye, however, one notices a trace of sadness.

What kind of name is Piti for a 55 year old gentleman?

Well mine.

My name is José María Alonso Fraga, but my grandfather, who emigrated to New York from my town, Foz, in Lugo, was called El Pitinglish when he returned.

Then the nickname was inherited by my father, who was a sailor.

And, now, Piti is me.

And you, how are you doing in

Well fatal.

I mess it up

But I defend myself with those great automatic translators out there, a lot of gibberish and a lot of nose.

Do you need them in your business?

For my profession, what is needed is that, plus a lot of psychology, empathy, infinite patience and a little bit of bad blood.

Psychology for what?

We work with people on both sides of the camera.

Each one is as it is, and you don't know the day it has.

My job is that they trust me, that they feel safe.

And you have to know how to wear them.

One has been at this for many years.

And the bad host?

To know how to stop the feet from time to time.

Some people go overboard.

You are not anyone's father, nor are you his slave.

You speak of yourself in the feminine.

Have you had many

Yes. As a child I had a lot of pen, more than now, still.

At school they called me a sissy and I had a fat one because I have a lot of character and I wouldn't shut up.

At home I counted things when I saw myself strongly.

But when I arrived in Madrid to study journalism and started working at night, the

ran out .

We are talking about Madrid at the end of the eighties.

Crazy time?

Yes, I've lived through the night a lot and let's say I've tried everything.

All.

But I have never had the feeling of going towards an abyss.

Don't forget that I was working, I had to balance the box.

And with 20 drinks I don't give you anything.

It was the same to go out than to get up.

How much is your diary worth?

Priceless.

But it's worth gold.

What kind of contacts do you have?

Well, there is the best and the worst of each house, of Spain and from abroad.

Note that I have the contacts with the name changed, for security, and sometimes even I forget them and I go crazy trying to find them.

My phone has been stolen several times.

And they haven't been hacked.

Do you keep state secrets?

Let's say that I keep little secrets, or great secrets, but almost all of them, in the end, end up being known.

He spends all day dealing with celebrities.

Is he a shepherd of egos?

Well, actually I work so that people talk about other people and go see what those people do.

People always talk about the ego of the actors, but there are plumbers with more ego than them.

And more expensive.

That's another.

That there is 85% unemployment in the profession is not talked about.

There is everything everywhere.

And nonsense, how much is there?

A lot, I'm not going to deny it, but there are also people who don't have any and carry that.

Who promotes this nonsense?

Well, look, more than the protagonists, their environment.

There are people who succeed at 20 years old and their environment makes them believe it.

They make them half fools and kill them with success.

I have seen everything in this.

People die, commit suicide and be successfully killed by others.

And broken toys?

Also.

This is a very thankless industry and I have enormous respect for its professionals, but I also believe that people are educated for success and not failure.

There are people who have hit a pitch and suddenly make bad decisions.

Or the industry forgets about you.

That happens more in the world of television than in the world of cinema or theater, which are more long-distance races.

What is charisma?

That magnetism that attracts.

You have or learn to develop it.

That thing about walking into a room and everyone looking at you.

I still remember the first time I saw Penelope [Cruz], she went through exactly that, and she hadn't gone to the United States yet.

She is not just beauty.

It's that something that makes you shine.

Do you envy that of someone?

No, if anything, your bank account.

How much damage has Botox done to natural beauty?

Although I think it's slowly changing, this industry is very motherfucking in general and with women in particular, not just the older ones.

Although they are increasingly diverse, there are some standards that continue to be a fantasy, and adolescents look at it.

There are 21-year-old girls who put things on and say, but fagot, what are you doing putting on Botox if you don't have a wrinkle?

In this it is as in everything.

There are people who improve and are divine and others who go overboard and look like a totem.

Do the divine have the same complexes as humans?

We all have insecurities and complexes, even the most beautiful and the most charismatic.

I have seen fantastic actors and actresses tremble with anxiety before a journalist or a photo shoot.

Is he mythomaniac at this point?

Zero.

With actors, directors and musicians, nothing.

Now, one has the myths of her own.

You put Pet Shop Boys in front of me and I faint, or Dioni, from Camela, and I kneel down.

Or Supreme de Luxe, or La Prohibida.

I love transvestites.

Why?

What do they give you?

The idea of ​​freedom.

I have also been a transvestite, La Piti, in those first years in Madrid.

In those times, there was something in me that was released and that just came out like that.

I still do it.

I no longer have dresses, but the other day, on actor Eduardo Casanova's birthday, Candela Peña left me a dress and it was a real catharsis.

Why do you think there are so many gays in your business?

I don't know, but it's a fact, yes.

Perhaps they credit "psychology, empathy, patience and their bit of badass", as you say?

Well, not all gays are empathetic, I know many very unsympathetic too.

I don't know.

Sometimes we talk about it among ourselves.

We are, at least, 80% gay, and there are also many women.

And besides, it's not something that's going to change when we retire.

The new ones maintain that ratio, or even exceed it, that you know.

It is something worthy of study by one of those American universities.

Speaking of the US, would you be able to organize the NATO summit press show?

Just as you organize the Goya, I organize the red carpet for the NATO leaders.

They are people, right?

You give me the rundown, the who's who, and I'll organize them for you.

I imagine there will be 150 million things of protocol, but, in the end, it is about ordering a parade of people.

And I know how to do that.

What have you seen done for a VIP wristband of those that you distribute to enter exclusive parties?

Of everything.

They have tried to steal them from my pocket, they have tried to seduce me to the beast, they have made me a lot of ball.

Sometimes it is as simple as asking for it.

He doesn't already have it.

And what would you be willing to do for one that you don't have?

Well, look, I don't have a ticket for Rosalía's concert.

From here I say it.

I leave it there.

DAVID AND PITI AND VICE VERSA

Piti Alonso (Foz, Lugo, 55 years old) is, together with his colleague and friend David Sánchez, one half of David y Piti, the firm that organizes most of the red carpets and parties of the most mediatic cultural events in Spain, from the Goya awards, the Malaga and San Sebastián festivals to the most famous fashion shows and premieres on the calendar.

On her agenda are the most and least beloved celebrities she deals with on a daily basis.

The son of a Galician sailor and a cook, Piti came to Madrid to study Journalism, began working in nightclubs and turned his people skills into his profession.

After 25 years

celebrities, Piti himself is popular enough in those circles to have appeared as a character in the

, from his colleagues, and friends, Los Javis.

50% off

Exclusive content for subscribers

read without limits

subscribe

I'm already a subscriber