Four figures from children's and youth literature present the first novel set at Benidorm Fest

Erik, Allegra, Nil and Ras have travelled to Benidorm to live a unique experience at a music festival. They do not know each other and perhaps, under other circumstances, their lives would never have crossed paths. This is how 'Amor & Hate' begins, the first novel set at the Benidorm Fest, which was presented this Thursday at Torrejó Municipal Building, a few days after the end of the third edition of this contest and coinciding with its market launch. The work is signed by four renowned authors of children's and youth literature such as Roberto Santiago, Begoña Oro, Belén Gopegui and Nando López, writers who previously knew each other, but whose friendship was forged in Benidorm. As happened with this collective novel, the first written by eight hands.

The acting mayor, Ana Pellicer, participated in the presentation of this novel along with other members of the municipal Corporation, in an event in which the city's mayor, Toni Pérez, also participated. She has done it through a video that she sent with the novel from Sanremo, where she is these days exploring with its organizers different avenues of collaboration between the two festivals.

The mayor thanked the four authors and their editor, as well as the SM publishing house, for having set in the city "a wonderful story, of success, of identity, of dreams, of emotion such as this one" and that, as happens to the four protagonists of the book, it will allow us to “live a unique experience in Benidorm and at the Benidorm Fest.”

For her part, Ana Pellicer has highlighted the attractiveness of Benidorm as a setting for films, novels or video clips, with a review of renowned authors, from Silvia Plath or Gabriel Miró to Bigas Luna or Isabel Coixet, who have been inspired by the city. “Benidorm has a particularity that not only those of us who live here identify and value, but also the millions of people who choose us every year: in Benidorm, there is no monotony and that from a vital and literary point of view is very attractive,” she said. Likewise, she added that “it is a friendly city; of urban and human contrasts; a city open to almost everything; “a place where very all kind of people live together, where everyone chooses how to live and where no one feels alone.”

Writing process

'Amor & Hate', published by the SM publishing house, is a novel, aimed at audiences aged 14-15 and up, romantic with thriller overtones, and set in this music festival so followed by Spanish 'Eurofans' such as It is the Benidorm Fest. The idea of bringing these authors together came from Berta Márquez, editorial manager of Children's and Young Adult Literature at SM, looking for a channel that would serve to "reflect on whether an activity as solitary as writing could emerge from a dialogue between four writers." From there, each one designed a character and last year, coinciding with the second edition of this contest to choose the representative of Spain in Eurovision, they travelled together to Benidorm to get to know the setting of this story up close, experience the atmosphere of the 'Fest' and look for the main places that would be another part of the novel.

Márquez explained that “there are many works written by four hands, the particularity of ‘Amor & Hate’ is that we want it to be noted that there are four writers behind it, and also the creative process.” When forming the team, she indicates that she took into account that they were complete, that they were not alike but that they could fit together. “I have learned a lot by observing the creative process from so close. And also the friendship that has emerged in this group. It has been a real luxury, almost like a game and the result is a wonderful novel: exciting, interesting, that talks about identity, dreams, success, loneliness, and flying over all that of friendship and music as the language of the soul."

In 'Amor & Hate' each of the four main characters has been created by one of the authors. They all meet the night before Benidorm Fest final gala. And, from there, an escape, a gun, an explosion and an endless number of traps to avoid create a plot that for the authors has been a challenge, since it has been circulating for a year from one to another, with a period of one week and 10,000 characters to continue the novel, without any prior premise, as they have explained.

Benidorm, one more character in the story 

“A small country, half a story, half almost too real.” This is how Belén Gopegui defines the city, explaining that it now represents the time he shared in “the Benidorm lived and imagined through our characters.” For Roberto Santiago, it is the city of his adolescence and where he spent, and continues to spend, many summers with his family. “I love Benidorm, I know it very well, but I have rediscovered it when writing the novel,” he acknowledges.

Regarding the Benidorm Fest that has just been held, they define the music festival as “fun and bright, which also brings together other much less friendly realities, such as that 'hate' that gives the title to our book and on which I think it is necessary to reflect. The violence that we are capable of triggering with impunity in networks that target real people and where, despite the fact that we talk more and more about mental health, sometimes we take very little care of it when we give our opinion about other people's work," criticizes Nando López, an author committed to young people.

“The festival is almost as complex as the city and that is the stuff of literature,” says Begoña Oro, who is “fascinated by this mix of such disparate elements: Eurofans and people enjoying their retirement, the cold night and the sun reverberating in the sea, towers and palm trees, love for music and wild competition, love and hate..."

The four writers, together with the editorial manager of SM Children's and Youth Literature, have thanked “all the collaboration and support” received by Benidorm City Council since they contacted them a little over a year ago to propose the project and design the story.

After this presentation of the novel, Roberto Santiago, Begoña Oro, Belén Gopegui, Nando López and Berta Márquez will participate tomorrow, Friday, in a meeting with 100 young people from Benidorm, students from Nuestra Señora de los Dolores school, to introduce them to the work. In the afternoon, they will be at Contalles Bookstore signing copies.