Surrounded by books and art

She is a woman of simple tastes and forms. She lives every moment of life with passion to never be late or miss anything that happens around her. She is a librarian, mother, good friend of her people and a party animal. She was Bellea del Foc in 1987, during the time of Conrado Albadalejo, leading the soirees and fireworks during the celebration days of Les Fogueres de Sant Joan. She has lived in Mutxamel for 25 years, integrated into the group “A to trapo” and for whatever is needed. “I just hope for a lot of life to enjoy it,” she says. Lots of sport and long walks with an established destination to stay in top shape. She spends many hours each work day surrounded by sensations, books and a lot of art. Aránzazu García Espinosa (Bilbao, 1968) has lived in Alicante since he was eight years old. Her father José Luis García Montes, an Asturian by birth born in Ribera de Soto, always worked in banking entities and decided to request a job transfer from Oviedo to Alicante for the well-being of his family.

We are in 1976. The García Espinosas settled in the Benalúa neighborhood: Esperanza, the mother, now deceased, the father and his three offspring, Aránzazu, José Luis and Silvia, already from Alicante. She learned many things in the Sagrados Corazones schools and, later, in the classrooms of the José Carlos Aguilera center, located in Alipark. He graduated from Figueras Pacheco High School. The fire festival stopped his gaze and time. A friend of hers encouraged her to run as a candidate for “bellea” representing the Polígono de Babel-Bernardo Pérez Sales foguera. With doubts, she signed up for the challenge. She earned the trust of the court during the interview, after finishing the catwalks and parades of the candidates. She was 19 years old and had many hopes. On the evening of May 23, 1987, she was proclaimed Bellea del Foc of Les Fogueres de Sant Joan in the “Pitiu Rochel” Pavilion, in a setting set in the picturesque neighborhood of Santa Cruz. The event featured a performance by the ventriloquist José Luis Moreno and his dolls Macario, Monchito and Rockefeller. Being Bellea del Foc was another learning experience: «she strengthened me as a person; “After 27 years I still enjoy the party and its smell of gunpowder.” She says that she learned quickly from her loved ones Conrado Albaladejo, then president of the Management Commission, and from José Ángel Guirao, alchemist of sensations and scenes, now deceased. She worked for 15 years in the customer service department of El Corte Inglés. She later worked as an administrator in various law firms and advisors. But the financial crisis and the real estate bubble of 2008 put her name on the unemployment lists. On the recommendation of a good friend, she returned to studying. She enrolled in the higher degree module in Library Science, Archival Science and Documentation that was taught at the IES Virgen del Remedio. She passed with flying colors. She practiced her trade in the library of the Faculty of Law of the University of Alicante.

Then he got a scholarship at the Alicante Port Authority Foundation to organize and manage files of jumbled, dusty and very messy papers and navigation charts. She entered the contest for a position offered by the Alicante City Council to fill the position of librarian at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Alicante (MACA), the former La Asegurada Museum, since 1977, thanks to the donations of the Onil artist Eusebio Sempere. . She approved. She started working on October 10, 2010. It’s been almost 14 years. A good time. Always in constant learning. There she is still, as coordinator of a library that guards thousands of books, catalogues, documents and that becomes the scene of morning visits by schoolchildren and, late in the afternoon, of various activities and courses related to contemporary art, such as “Palabras mayors” or “The argument table”, among many. She feels comfortable and enjoys a job that receives daily queries from students, professors, and those curious about unborrowed writings. She lives surrounded by books and art: daily learning; she never returns home without new experiences. «I feel like the luckiest woman in the world in a multipurpose space. It is a privilege,” says Aránzazu. She has lived in Mutxamel for a quarter of a century. Integrated into the municipality, she actively participates as a neighbor, a member of the Abencerrajes troupe and lends a hand to the members of the festival commission in matters of protocol and other tasks. She has a daughter, Alejandra, who works in a communication agency in Madrid and was a childhood Bellea del Foc in the same fogueril district as her mother. “I feel proud of Mutxamel, a wonderful town that offers many things.” She considers that the best gifts that her life has given her are health, family and many of her friends. She reaps what she has sown in her existence. Aránzazu is in shape. An athlete, she practices “crossfit” at the Box La Almajada gym, a training method based on varied exercises with functional movements at high intensity. But she likes walking more, long walks between earth and sky, in spaces up to one hundred kilometers long from the starting line to the finish line for a day, 24 hours, always motivated by companions in pedestrian battles or cheerful neighbors of the soul. and by members of his group “A to trapo”. She wants to grow up with tight, strong muscles: with her head held high and in her place. Her and her companion of smiles and new dreams. In short, she is a kind woman with simple tastes and in love with traditions, almost always surrounded by books and art in her professional stay. She is also happy.