Miquel Ferreres: "If the comic strip has to be a drawn photocopy of what the publisher explains, we're not going to be on the right track."

The cartoonist Miquel Ferreres (Barcelona, ​​1950) celebrates fifty years in the profession this year. After his time in Catalan Post, The Vanguard and The NewspaperHe arrived at ARA, where he has published a daily cartoon since 2018. His friend Toni Batllori told him one day that the job they had chosen was a "sweet deal." Ferreres assures that, if it is, it's not because of the hours, the salary, or the amount of work, but because of the luck of dedicating himself to a job he likes and that, if he were born again, he would do again.

He recently did a cartoon about the 50th anniversary about Franco's death, set in a bar.

— It's a true story a friend told me; he owned, and still owns, a bar in Barcelona. On November 20, 1975, two couples I'd never seen before showed up. They sat down quietly and asked me to bring them the most expensive thing I had in the bar, whether it was champagne, liqueur, or whiskey. The scene is etched in my memory. These people wanted to celebrate the event, and, mind you, they were quite cautious, going to a bar where they were strangers. Many people celebrated discreetly, because, of course, we were already fed up with so many beatings. Some went down La Rambla jumping and shouting, and a few people came out and beat them with batons.

Were you one of those who toasted with cava?

— Yes, I celebrated with my friends. I remember a palpable tension. We knew the anger that had built up in those who saw the joy of others as a monumental offense, and we also knew that nothing was over. You'd have to be incredibly naive to think it was. So there was a general, but subdued, almost feigned joy, with people walking down the street, glancing at each other, and raising their eyebrows in complicity.

Are there other times you remember when you drank?

— No, not really.

And do you have a favorite wine?

— I'm not a great wine connoisseur. I have a white wine for everyday drinking. From Empordà, Rueda, Segre, Priorat… And also from Navarra, because we're related [laughs]: my wife is from there. They have good wines, and when we go, I always take some home. I'm curious and I like to try different things. Sometimes, on Saturdays, we go to a cooperative in Falset.

Do you like this type of experience?

— I like meeting people, seeing what they have, choosing a case or two of wine from the place, and hearing a bit about what they do. Chatting with them and seeing solid, hardworking, and honest people. I think they make very good wines there. Besides, I'm not one of those mystics who raise their glass, smell it, perform grand ceremonies, and experience ecstasy. I like wine, but I can't say it moves me, as I see it in some places. I have a sister-in-law who's a winemaker in Navarre, and when she tastes a wine, I don't see her do anything strange. All these ceremonies… If they're genuine, I respect them; but you also have to recognize when it's just for show.

Have many people been found "doing comedy"?

— Not long ago, Empar Moliner was talking about a lunch with a prominent figure in Barcelona—I know who it is, but she didn't say his name, and I won't either—who wanted to show off his wine expertise and was going on and on with explanations. She caught him out: he didn't know what he was talking about. Being a wine connoisseur confers a kind of aristocratic aura. There are people who don't know but want to pretend they do. It's very human.

Everyone wants to be an aristocrat of something.

— I don't [laughs].

He talks about affordable prices. Do you find some prices excessive?

— If we asked cooperative workers what wine they drink every day, I don't think they'd mention €90 bottles. It's incomprehensible that some bottles are so incredibly expensive. A bottle that costs more than €20 or €25 doesn't interest me. Since I don't understand and I'm not sufficiently knowledgeable about wine, I can't really appreciate what it means for a bottle to cost €50, €100, or €200 more. You can find reasonably priced bottles of good, honest wine.

She now lives in Terrassa.

— I was born in Barcelona, ​​but I live in Terrassa. The industrial parks that are now everywhere used to be vineyards. This happens all over Catalonia, but especially here. And, honestly, I don't know what they did with all that wine.

Is it part of your daily routine?

— I drink a lot at lunchtime. Since my work is solitary, I've always tried not to drink while working or before work. I have many colleagues and acquaintances who have made the mistake of drinking or smoking while working. And the day they had to quit, they couldn't…

Couldn't they work?

— They couldn't find inspiration because they were going through withdrawal. So they drank, and since they'd satisfied their withdrawal symptoms, they could work. This is mistaken for inspiration. Inspiration should come naturally, without having to take anything. Otherwise, you're a dead man. Literature and art are full of alcoholics, of artists who were dependent on drugs. If they didn't get high, they couldn't work. So, not a drop of alcohol when it's time to work.

Is it true that cartoonists have more room to maneuver than opinion writers?

— It's true, and it's an accepted condition: an unwritten but accepted rule. Cartoonists, satirical newspaper commentators, operate in a different sphere, let's say, than news reporters. You have to have a somewhat more radical point of view, which, if possible, should lead to hilarity. And it's at this point that the newspaper's management, the company, must have a good deal of trust in the cartoonist. If the editor or the opinion editor has a poor sense of humor, the cartoonist's job becomes very difficult.

Because?

— Because they might say, "What he drew isn't really like that." Obviously it isn't, which is why I'm the cartoonist—I have to do something eccentric, something silly, if you know what I mean. That's what people are looking for. From my point of view, if the cartoon has to be a drawn photocopy of what the publisher explains, we're in trouble. From this perspective, ARA is by far the best newspaper I've ever worked for.

Where do you see it?

— Editors sometimes have commitments, friendships, that you, as a cartoonist, can't possibly know about. It's not like, when they hire you, someone tells you, "Go ahead and draw the cartoons, but be careful with this guy and that guy." That would be a list as long as a phone book. But it has happened to me, at other newspapers, that after I'd done the cartoon, they'd say to me, "You know what happens…"

Which drawings interest you most?

— For me, a drawing with few words, or no words at all, is a winner. These are the ones that interest me most. They're more complete, and people understand them at a glance. In reality, that's the function of drawing. Also, I'm not an "editorial illustrator," who has to work on the topic of the day. I've done it at times, but it doesn't suit me. My drawing style is rather slow.

What does your artisanal working method offer you?

— Pencil traced over India ink; once clean, the pencil is erased and watercolor is applied… “It’s unbeatable,” he said. that one about the entrecôtesIt gives it a life that you can't get any other way. A warmth. A different light. Sometimes you can see the small mistakes and the little quirks. I wouldn't know how to do it any other way, nor am I interested in doing it.