Jesús Quintero needs no introduction. He was born in San Juan del Puerto, a beautiful town of Huelva that he always carried in his heartand to the one who wanted to return to end of his life to walk through those streets of whitewashed houses through which he ran as a child, surrounding himself with his countrymen, always kind and attentive.
His unprecedented way of interviewingwith those long silences that They invited the interviewee to tell “something else”has its origin, according to Quintero himself, in the environment of his childhood: «I was born very close to a family of singers from my townthat’s why I think that my sense of rhythm when speaking, my silences, come from that beat of the jondo, from that sense of cadence.
A personal style that was imitated by countless presenters, who applied it to later programs that are surely in everyone’s memory, but they never surpassed the master. He Sanjuanero was and will be a great among greatsonly a few can say that they were a living legend and he was in that rare group.
Quintero, altruistically, he donated to his peopleand its people, all his work. In the words of Rocío Cárdenas, mayor of San Juan, «here he brought his latest great project that from the city council we are going to maintain and promote“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, stored in the Foundation. As Juan Martínez, Councilor for Culture of the municipality, points out, this documentation has been fully 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 belongings, among which is an extensive library of more than 700 volumes available to the general public.
With all this, the aim 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 intended “a place where globalization and cutting-edge technology coexist with our deepest roots. The forecast is that such a magnificent proposal will soon be able to be visited and that 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 someone who, in a generous and altruistic way, had contributed so much to them. A year later, a sculpture was inaugurated in his honor. On a plaque located next to it you can read: «The Town of San Juan del Puerto, represented by its City Council, dedicates this monument to Jesús QuinteroFavorite Son of the municipality and renowned radio and television communicator, on the occasion of the first anniversary of his death.
Everyone in the town encourages you to go see the monument. For example, two workers from the Toscano hostel do it, Luisa and Inés, who enthusiastically tell how realistic the figure of Quintero is and that everyone, they say, is pleasantly surprised when they see the monument, a marvelous work by the sculptor Elías Rodríguez Picón, located on the tomb where his remains are kept in the municipal cemetery.
It is a life-size sculpture made of bronze with surprising and remarkable realism.. In it we can see Jesús Quintero sitting at his table performing one of his many programs, in a relaxed and relaxed attitude.
The figure is surrounded by multiple details for which it was known. Thus we find his iconic microphone; a set of books on which little red mice could not be missing; and a handwritten note, signed by him, in which you can read: “To my dear sons of bitches”, and just as the saying goes, “genius and figure until the grave.” Quintero appears sitting, as could not be expected, on a cushion I wrinkle, with boots and folded pants, in one of them the laces are untied and, with the author winking at the protagonist, the phrase “because I am a free madman” appears.
What better than some verses from another illustrious person from Huelva such as Juan Ramón Jiménez to say goodbye to this great figure: «What are you going to hurt me, death? Doesn’t life hurt?
As it appears on his monument: “Jesus Quintero, the Fool of the Hill, is still here.”
