Brother of Cachorro with Betic sentiment and belonging to a family of rower lineage, this Sevillian lawyer and tax advisor assumes the presidency of the Andalusian Federation (a position that his father already held between 1981 and 1988) with overflowing enthusiasm, maximum ambition, without backpacks and many ideas in mind to make Andalusia the national epicenter of fashion. —My whole life linked to rowing.—In my house it has been a leitmotiv. We are seven brothers, I am the sixth. All of us, except one of my sisters, have practiced rowing at some point in our lives. One of them is Enrique Briones, who went to the Seoul Games and was world champion. He was the driving force of my house. I have five medals in Spanish Championships. I left it when I was 20 because I started law and I didn’t have the time. I stopped rowing because I got married and had children, but now I practice it as a hobby. I usually go out two or three days a week on the water. I started at Labradores, Náutico signed me and I have spent my entire sporting career there. —What seal would you like to leave your mandate for posterity? —Difficult question. I am very ambitious. I would like to bring me an important international regatta, from the World Cup on down. We already have the World Cup, which will surely come in May 2026. I would like these CEAR facilities to be filled with people and I would be very happy if we managed to articulate the circulation or traffic of the river sheet, which right now is, From my point of view and I say this critically, a jungle. There are no controls. I think that the debate can be opened politically between the City Council, the Port Authority and the clubs so that rowing can continue from the Puente de las Delicias to the lock. Right now it is closed for fear of sports boats circulating when boats pass by, but 90% of the time boats do not board. There are 4.5 kilometers there, from the Nautical Club. A sectoral table must be created. That would attract tourism and international teams from the north that no longer come. I don’t want it to be opened up to become another jungle, but rather for exclusive high-performance use. Seville is high performance and excellence. The best street in Seville is not Sierpes or Tetuán, but the river, which is in the center. And we have to take care of that.—Is this the big project you have in mind along with an international competition?—I am more of a home-made solution for regulating traffic along the river, because that is going to lead us to more people coming. international teams. And in the end, it will be wealth for the city. I want the sport of rowing to generate wealth for Seville. And if we are able to regulate this street, the international teams that have stopped coming will come again.—At the level of rowing and canoeing, is this enormous facility, the CEAR, underused right now?—Maybe that’s not the adjective, but It can be used much more, actually. And the residence. I think if we sit down and sort it out, this could be a lot more productive. —What is the level of health of Spanish rowing?—Excellent. On a sporting level, I think we are experiencing the best stage of national rowing. At the institutional level, there are things to improve. In fact, our beloved Miguel Ángel Millán leaves Andalusia and presents himself as a candidate for Española. He does it because there are still things to fix, solve and that can go better.—Are there means, human resources and infrastructure in Andalusia to continue being the main source of Spanish rowing?—Of course. And furthermore, in Andalusia we have three centers linked to a new modality called sea rowing: Málaga, La Línea and El Ejido. And I am especially excited to finish a project we have in Punta Umbría. And within sea rowing, in Los Angeles the beach sprint will be Olympic. Andalusia has to get several Olympians from there by 2028. That would also be one of my goals. —The dream of the 2027 World Cup in Seville has escaped for the moment. —Yes, but I don’t want to wake up, I want to continue dreaming. It makes me very sad. It was a super nice dream that we had there, in the palm of our hand, but it couldn’t be due to economic reasons. It has given us a lot of courage because it would have given a boost to all this, to the remodeling of this part here. It would have given Seville and all of Andalusia a very good spring. It is there, latent, and I hope it is not forgotten, but I need the support of public administrations. —Is more financial support needed?—Yes, it is the only thing that is needed. We have the rest. Seville has everything else to spare, a beautiful city with a spectacular track. —Should the CEAR and the river be Bañolas?—This is better than Bañolas.—I mean, they should be the epicenter of Spanish rowing.—Yes, absolutely. 70% of rowing in Spain is practiced here. Here are the best rowers, who are elite, very good; the best coaches, very internationally recognized; and we have to support this, love it and give them what they ask of us. I die here with these people. —Can Sevilla-Betis grow more?—Yes, because the city is dedicated to it. I would like it to be what Oxford-Cambridge is in London. We are thinking about it to see how we can give it another leap in quality. Perhaps changing the goal, taking it to Betis Street, Torre del Oro or Marqués del Contadero. I have many ideas. We need more support from both clubs because when a million people watch Sevilla-Betis and countless views are streamed on YouTube, we are selling the brands of both. And that’s why I understand that they should get a little more involved. Sevilla-Betis is getting bigger and bigger, it is an increasingly bigger monster, and what I like most is that the city has made it its own. When the regatta ends, the rowing festival appears. There is never any fuss. It is something very beautiful that deserves the support of all of Seville on its main street.
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