Santiago Díaz-Bravo: “Brexit for the British is like Spain’s 1898 Disaster: Confronting Decline”

The aspiration to the British Crown by two Spanish candidates in the 21st century; the story of Juan de Lepe, of whom it is said that, in the transition from the 15th to the 16th century, he won a bet against Henry VII and became king for a day; the decadence – or rather, the awareness of the decline – of two empires of the past and of the present.

These are some, but not all, as there are more, of the elements that shape God save Froilán (Editorial Pie de Página, 2024), the new novel by Santiago Díaz-Bravo (La Orotava, Tenerife, 1968). About it, and also about the literary craft, he had this interview with DIARIO DE AVISOS.

-A chess game at the end of the 15th century, a family tree and the aspiration to the throne of the United Kingdom, in the 21st century, by two Spaniards. You have to admit that, from the outset, the approach of ‘God save Froilán’ is surprising. Do you remember what was the starting point that led you to write this novel?

“There are two. On the one hand, the story – although there are no documents to back it up, it is a kind of historical legend – of Juan de Lepe, a Spanish sailor who seems to have been shipwrecked off the coast of southern England, is caught and for some reason ends up befriending King Henry VII (1457-1509).

According to historical anecdotes, the two made a bet – it is not clear whether it was a game of chess or not, it could have been a game of cards… – that if the monarch lost, Juan de Lepe would occupy the throne for 24 hours. And legend has it that Henry VII lost. There is no record of any of this, as I say, but I found the story itself interesting. On the other hand, God save Froilán also speaks of the decline of two empires of two European countries in the present day.

Spain, which is trying to regain its lost glory and its decline came earlier, and the United Kingdom, which is trying to keep what little glory it has left. So these two aspects led me to articulate this story, using, as in previous novels, real characters and fictional characters, and stringing it all together through humour”.

-And how does humour help you to create your stories?

“Humour, contrary to what we often believe, is one of the most serious things in the world. And there is nothing better than humour to tell the serious things in life, the things that are really important. Comedy is often regarded as a second-rate genre, but even the history of literature tells us otherwise.

One of the greatest authors of all time, Cervantes, used humour in Don Quixote. And he is not the only outstanding writer to have done so. Humour is a first-rate tool for telling reality. I like to remember the phrase “Life is a tragedy when seen in the foreground, but a comedy when seen from afar”, by Charles Chaplin.

It is curious that one of the best definitions, in my opinion, of what life is was given by a comedian. We see that every day. That’s why I think humour is a great literary device and, when used well, it can help us to better understand the world around us and human nature.

-What did you find in Felipe VI’s nephew, Felipe Juan Froilán de Todos los Santos, that made him interesting enough to be one of the main characters?

“Felipe Juan Froilán de Todos los Santos has transcended his own person to become a character. We can all remember the day when the character appeared in our lives. It was at the wedding of the current King and Queen of Spain, Felipe VI and Letizia. He was one of the boys carrying the arras and he kicked one of the girls accompanying him.

This very funny thing was much commented on. From then on, the character has grown and, obviously, it has had an exorbitant following in the media. Just as I use humour as a resource, I make use of reality, of what is around me. So, when reality provides me with a character like that for my purposes, I don’t hesitate to use him. In a way, Froilán is a normal boy.

A young man from a good family who has had an excellent education in the best schools, who has done as much mischief as we have all done in our youth… In the same way, he has all the defects that would apparently prevent him from becoming a monarch, because, just like each one of us, he is not an example of anything.

That contrast was also particularly interesting to me. If we turn to the history of Spain or any other country, we find that, over the centuries, people have sat on the throne who have had as few virtues to do so as Felipe Juan Froilán de Todos los Santos. All this made him even more interesting and appropriate to play the role, let us say of centrality, of the book”.

-When dealing with a fiction that delves into history, and also into legend, to what extent does reality condition the imaginary and vice versa?

“Very much so. When you write, especially fiction, what you write in black and white is the product of your own experiences. I have been a journalist most of my life and journalism, more than a profession, is a way of life. Even if I have left it, it seems to me that he has not left me.

When I put myself in front of a paper or a screen, that past influences me when I write. That, on the one hand. At the same time, I understand that reality is rich and interesting enough not to ignore it. Day after day, we witness events that sometimes exceed even what we consider fiction, from the point of view of the incredibility or surprise they may cause us. In this case, one of the objectives of God save Froilán was to capture the situation of the decline of two empires.

This has led me to the fiction being heavily influenced by reality. Perhaps also because of my journalistic background, I feel comfortable talking about places I know, environments I’ve been to, and I think that writing and reflecting on them makes me much more productive.

-You have indicated that you are interested in exploring genres and ways of writing in each new project. What makes ‘God save Froilán’ different from previous works, such as ‘Las intrusas’ (2021) or ‘Un secreto a voces’ (2022)?

“In my books I mix many styles. From the omniscient narrator to the first-person narrator; I use journalistic texts, I reproduce news and, in the case of God save Froilán, even press releases from governments… When I narrate in the third person, I try to adapt the language to what I am telling.

For example, in this novel it is not the same to talk about what happens in the café where the legitimate descendant to the throne of England works as it is to narrate what happens at a meeting of aristocrats. In short, I try to ensure that every line of the book is interesting and, at the same time, that it is not a flat narrative.

One of my objectives from a formal point of view is to enrich the narrative with different twists, with different types of language. I think this can be appreciated in the reading of this novel, especially in the clash of atmospheres, of characters, of characters…”.

-You have been living in London for 12 years and this allows you to have a dual perspective, that of Spain and that of the United Kingdom, which is reflected in your literature. What parallels do you draw between the two nations in the case of ‘God save Froilán’?

“There are many that I appreciate. For the last few years, we have been witnessing in the UK the Spanish Disaster of ’98. In Spain we realised that we had ceased to belong to the world aristocracy with the loss of Cuba and the Philippines in 1898. We realised then that we were not as important as we thought we were.

That was a crisis that is still with us today. Not so many generations have passed since then. In fact, those of us of my age are the third or fourth generation after that crisis and its consequences. This feeling of loss, similar to that felt by those who were once rich and now are no longer so, is deeply embedded in the Spanish imagination and in our way of being. Well, the same process is now being experienced by the United Kingdom.

The international predominance it used to have has diminished considerably since the beginning of the 20th century until today, but, curiously, it is only now, after Brexit, that it has begun to realise that it is no longer what it thought it was, and in fact has not been for some time now. That is why I say that Brexit is Britain’s 98th. Its society is realising, for example, that one of its former colonies, India, is a great power that it can’t even deal with on a level playing field.

So, just as the crisis of ’98 affected Spanish idiosyncrasy in the 20th and 21st centuries, I think the same phenomenon is happening in British society with Brexit. This is what I wanted to capture in God save Froilán: Spain is trying to recover its lost greatness and the UK is trying to keep up what it sees is crumbling”.

-How has the writing of this new novel developed? Does the method of creation vary greatly from one book to the next or is the process usually similar?

“One is an apprentice all one’s life. I published my first book 20 years ago and embarked more seriously on a literary career in 2018. I’ve published four novels and I think I’ve been getting better and better at learning how to create stories.

My journalistic background has helped me a lot. When you are a journalist you also tell stories, although as far as possible you don’t make them up [laughs]. For many years I researched the working formulas of great authors. And what struck me most was precisely the differences between them.

So I concluded that there is no one method par excellence, that everyone has to find their own. Mine is to work, above all, in the morning hours. I like to get up early. I go forward in the work, stop and go back, go forward again and come back… It’s a continuous rewriting to improve the plots and, very importantly, to give the characters a soul.

And there is something magical about this: there is a moment when the characters reject the soul you want to give them and you can only accept their whims. The writer then becomes a witness”.