Jesus Quintero needs no introduction. He was born in San Juan del Puerto, a beautiful city of Huelva that he always carried in his heartand to the one who wanted to return to end of his life to walk through these streets of whitewashed houses through which he ran as a child, surrounding himself with his compatriots, always kind and attentive.
Her new way of interviewingwith these long silences which They invited the interviewee to tell “something else”finds its origin, according to Quintero himself, in the environment of his childhood: “I was born very close to a family of singers in my cityThat’s why I think my sense of rhythm when I speak, my silences, come from this jondo beat, from this sense of cadence.
A personal style that has been imitated by countless presenters, who have applied it to later programs that are surely in everyone’s memory, but have never surpassed the master. He Sanjuanero was and will be a great among the greatsonly a few can say they were a living legend and he was one of that rare group.
Quintero, selflessly, he gave a gift to his peopleand its inhabitants, all his work. In the words of Rocío Cárdenas, mayor of San Juan, “Here he brought his last big project that we will maintain and promote from the town hall“He left us his legacy as a great treasure.”
Thus was born the Jesús Quintero Foundation, or the Art Factory, as he preferred to call it, the project to which he dedicated the last five years of his life. He left a deposit of 10,000 hours of radio and television and 5,000 interviews, preserved in the Foundation. As Juan Martínez, councilor for Culture of the municipality, points out, this documentation has been completely digitized during three years of hard work to preserve the heritage contributed by one of the best communicators in Spain. Likewise, the presenter left the tables that appear in his interviews, his famous microphone, the recording table and other personal effects, among which is an extensive library of more than 700 volumes accessible to the general public.
With all this, the goal is to create a modern and interactive museum for future generations of communicators, in which the last dream of Quintero, who supervised and contributed his own ideas to this project, in which he wanted “a place where globalization and cutting-edge technologies coexist with our deepest roots. It is expected that such a magnificent proposal will soon be able to be visited and everyone will be able to enjoy this important legacy.
His death and his legend
His people, proud and grateful to one of their favorite sons, wanted to honor the memory of the one who, in a generous and altruistic way, had given them so much. A year later, a sculpture was inaugurated in his honor. On a plaque located next to it one can read: “The City of San Juan del Puerto, represented by its City Council, dedicates this monument to Jesús QuinteroThe municipality’s favourite son and renowned radio and television broadcaster, on the first anniversary of his death.
Everyone in the city encourages you to go see the monument. For example, two employees of the Toscano hostel do so, Luisa and Inés, who enthusiastically tell how realistic the figure of Quintero is and that everyone, they say, is pleasantly surprised when seeing the monument, a wonderful work by the sculptor Elías Rodríguez Picón, located on the grave where his remains are preserved in the municipal cemetery.
This is a life-size sculpture made of bronze with surprising and remarkable realism.. It shows Jesus Quintero sitting at his table performing one of his many programs, in a relaxed and casual attitude.
The character is surrounded by multiple details for which he was known. Thus we find his emblematic microphone; a set of books on which the little red mice could not be missing; and a handwritten note, signed by his hand, in which we can read: “To my dear sons of bitches”, and as the saying goes, “genius and figure to the grave”. Quintero appears seated, as one would expect, on a cushion I ride, with folded boots and trousers, in one of them the laces are untied and, while the author winks at the protagonist, the phrase “because I am a free fool” appears.
What better than a few verses from another illustrious figure from Huelva like Juan Ramón Jiménez to say goodbye to this great figure: “What harm are you going to do to me, death? Doesn’t life hurt?”
As it appears on his monument: “Jesus Quintero, the Madman of the Hill, is still there.”
