Iria Fernández-Tapias: “My fear came true, they didn’t let me say goodbye to my grandfather”

The young woman cannot contain her emotion when talking about her “alalo” – the affectionate way she refers to her grandfather. In fact, “I’ve been pretty bad for two weeks because the date of the first anniversary of his death was approaching.” Although what he regrets most is not having been able to enjoy his company in the last years of his life: “I feel sorry for not having lived his last moments with him. The last birthday I celebrated with my grandfather was my 18th birthday – now, he is 26. “I’ve had a very bad time.” And she is sure that it is not what the Galician businessman would have wanted since they were very close. Proof of this is that he named the last oil ship of the FTapias shipping company after him: «Imagine me as a dwarf thinking that I had a ship and that it went on the seas with my name. I have a model stored in my house. It is a very beautiful legacy. That is why I have felt so linked to the shipping company. I love boats and the sea. “He instilled all that in me.”

In his memory, keep many memories with Fernando Fernández-Tapias. Although there are two that are engraved in his retina. The first of them occurred in Marbella. «I was between 8 and 10 years old and he came with his boat, the Nufer. He docked in front of my favorite restaurant, we went to see him and, when we got off, there were a lot of spotlights and I was shocked. It was the first time I had seen something like this. For me, it was something new. The other has to do with Real Madrid CF, a team of which the businessman was vice president: «The first time I went to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium they took me to the presidential box. I was super excited because I had never been. Afterwards, they put us in an area where we could eat and in a room with the managers. I would have been, at most, 14 years old. At the end of the game, they took us to the locker room and when I saw the players come out, I was amazed.”

One of the things that Iria misses is the family gatherings on Sundays: “The whole family would get together, it was a huge table. We children would go to the garden to play and then we would go inside. And I remember his stews a lot, he cooked super well. Also the scallops. The Christmas holidays, in the same way, were a reason to get together and celebrate: «Every December 25 we went to Lucio House. Afterwards, we moved on to Pepa’s Bowl. However, due to “family issues”, all that changed: “My last Christmas with him was not this year. They were the fifth. I was sorry that he was not present, thinking of him and his little children, Ivan and Soul».

The firstborn of Fernando Fernández-Tapias -the eldest son of the Galician businessman- and Mercedes Canizares He cannot hold back his tears as he remembers everything he experienced: “I went from seeing my grandfather every week to not seeing him at all. We couldn’t. I had blocked all my uncles’ and my father’s phones. And I don’t think it was his thing… He also defends the position of the five eldest children of the Spanish shipowner to incapacitate him: “He was not my grandfather, he was someone else. When an older person is sick they are like a small child and make decisions that a sane person would not make. “We did it for the good of them and their companies.” “I think my grandfather did not understand why he did not see his children or grandchildren,” the young woman adds to this newspaper.

Regarding this matter, which has caused rivers of ink to flow in the national press, Iria Fernández-Tapias assures that her family chose to remain silent – “atrocious things were said about us” -, out of respect for her grandfather: “When the thing about incapacitating him came out and it was said that it was a lie, they did not speak so as not to hurt him. Therefore, when he died, the truth was proven – he was partially incapacitated. And be careful, it is very difficult to incapacitate a person. He must be very bad because all his rights are taken away. “We cared more about what he thought than what all of Spain thought.” Thus, he cannot forgive that they did not let him say goodbye to him: «My greatest fear came true, they did not let me say goodbye to my grandfather. Nobody warned us. Nobody called us. “He died at two in the morning and we found out at eight.”

And that tension did not stop at the funeral home either: «They hid the flower crown from us. One of children and grandchildren. Until the second day I went and said that was going to happen. “I knew my grandfather very well and he would not have allowed any of that.” He also regrets that he was not allowed to read, during the funeral mass, a farewell letter that he wrote in memory of Fernando Fernández-Tapias: «I have always liked to express what I feel. And since the other party didn’t let me read it, I thought that the best way to dedicate those words to him was through social networks. My relationship with him was always good. I am the oldest of the cousins ​​and the one who was able to spend the most moments with him. “I can say that she was the one who knew him best.” Furthermore, the young woman shares that on the occasion of the anniversary of Fernández-Tapias’ death, the family paid tribute to him, this Friday, in the strictest privacy: «We gathered together, the most intimate of us, to pray to him. That’s what really matters, praying to my grandfather. Not that everyone comes. With these words, he refers to the mass he organized Nuria Gonzalezhis last wife, along with his children and which took place this Thursday: «They didn’t notify us. “I found out, hours before, from third parties.”

«When you have a surname like that you have to take care of it, not dirty the image. And it’s what I’ve always done. As my parents say, ‘nobility oblige'”

Regarding the impact of her last name, Iria is very clear: «Putting it on a scale, the positive outweighs because it opens many doors for you. The negative thing is that you don’t know if they are open to you because of you as a person or because of the interest of your last name. Although not all that glitters is gold since on some occasions he has been prejudged for it: “I have tried to work in a nightclub and they have told me ‘no, you are Fernández-Tapias and you don’t need it.’ Or arriving at a nightclub, entering by a friend who works there, and telling me that I had to pay the entrance fee because I was a Fernández-Tapias. All this leads to him feeling insecure, in his daily life, about the people he meets new: “I don’t trust him.” She even shares that in some disputes she has been told “I don’t care who your grandfather is”: “The minute I have an argument with a friend I think that they are with me out of interest and I know that is not the case.” And a phrase that his parents tell him and he carries as a flag is “nobility oblige”: “When you have a surname like that you have to take care of it, not dirty the image. And that’s what I’ve always done.”

Hardworking and eager to undertake

Strong character is not the only thing that Iria Fernández-Tapias has inherited from her grandfather. Also his desire to start a business: «I have always wanted to have my own business. Although I have to admit that I am a person who does not dislike having bosses. I am at a stage where I want to learn and then create my company. You have to go step by step. I have worked in several places to touch all areas. Now, I am the director of communications and influencer marketing at Disparate Entertainment, a promoter of events and festivals such as Mar de Jávea, Snowdaze and Dream Island. In addition, he works in nightlife: «Many say that I party a lot, but I work in clubs like Rubicon Madrid and Grace Madrid. It’s a job where I earn money and I like it. That does not mean that I am worse because on Monday I am in the office at nine in the morning until seven in the afternoon and I give up. «My grandfather always told us that we had to work. “Education comes from the cradle,” he points out.

The granddaughter of the Galician businessman does not want to be an ‘influencer’ – “I don’t criticize them, I love them” -, she prefers that “they know me for my achievements. I want to be known for me, not for being a ‘granddaughter of’ or ‘daughter of’. “I think I can aspire to more and that I’m worth it.” Finally, he says that one of his dreams is “to find the love of my life, start a family, be happy, have good friends and that we are all well. And have inner peace. You can have money, houses, but without being happy you have nothing. “Those are the values ​​that have been instilled in me since I was little.” Another wish is “to have contact with my little uncles again. We have nothing to do with all this and, to this day, we don’t even talk. It hurts me because I have always been the one who got along best with my little uncle and seeing him and not being able to greet him hurts. And a lot.