Ernesto Collado: "I lost my sense of smell two and a half years ago and I discovered power."

Cantallops (Alt Empordà)Nestled in the shelter of the Albera massif, a gently rolling area at the foot of the Mediterranean Pyrenees, lies the 8.5-hectare Mas Flaquer de Cantallops estate, dating back to the 18th century. Before the walls were erected, the century-old plane tree that shades actor and perfumer Ernesto Collado (Barcelona, ​​1974) and me as we chatted already stood by the Torrelles stream. It's listed as one of the four oldest in Spain, with 400 years of history. I could describe its bark, its majesty, its height, how one of the large fallen branches has been converted into a table... But for Collado, this plane tree is yet another example of the enormous biodiversity this estate harbors, making it unique for the new project that has turned it upside down. As I interview him, he explains how the scent of wild garlic, moonflower, and water mint reaches him. A decade ago, it would have been impossible. From one day to the next, he lost his sense of smell.

"I was working in the theater, I'd been earning a living for 23 years," he recalls. "Suddenly, I have a problem with phantosmia, a loss of smell, and it's been like a bombshell in my life. Because on the one hand, it's made me discover the whole world of smell. And on the other, the connection with my perfumer grandfather and his legacy." Regarding Collado, beyond his extensive creative career, you probably know him from TV3 series like As if it were yesterday, The heart of the city either VentdelplàWhat may not be so familiar to you is his new role as a perfumer, capable of entering the world's top league in record time with unprecedented 100% natural proposals, thanks to his small brand, Bravanariz, where he captures the essences of the Empordà region ~BK_SLT_L~

When Collado was told he had a condition called phantosmia, he thought it was a "joke," that "it sounded like a Marvel comic," but it turns out that instead of having a power, he was missing it. "The loss lasted more than two and a half years and made me realize just how wonderful a power we have in our noses truly is," he adds. The most beautiful story of this process is that what ended up curing his phantosmia were plants: "My neurologist told me that the only way to recover my sense of smell is by training my brain, to reestablish a connection between the sense of smell and its receptors." Like doing yoga, Collado did smell exercises every morning. The doctor recommended he choose scents that connected him with pleasant things. And immediately, the aromatic herbs he remembered from his childhood arrived: rosemary (it's the Bravanariz logo) and, above all, lavender. "I was born in January and August, just over six months old, sleeping in a bed of freshly picked lavender," he recalls.

The Republican Grandfather

The months of training connected him with his roots, especially the story of his grandfather, José Collado Herrero, an important Catalan perfumer at the beginning of the 20th century and also a socialist—"one of the old school," Collado points out. The Civil War interrupted his studies, and he decided to dedicate himself to making essential oils, such as lavender, which they collected during the summers in the village of Mira, in Cuenca. "He died when I was eight years old, but we had a very special relationship," he explains. "I remember him as a very quiet person in a histrionic family. Now I've learned many things from my grandfather that not even his children knew. He always championed natural perfumery, and in some ways I'm now collecting all of this, but the curious thing is."

But Flaquer

Collado has just captured this entire journey of rediscovering his sense of smell and his connection with plants in the book Smell. Discover the power of smell to reconnect with nature. (Cosetania), which will be published next week. But if there's a place where you can experience it firsthand, it's at the Mas Flaquer estate, an oasis of biodiversity where you can smell the Mediterranean in all its splendor. "I've always been in love with the Albera, as the most unique area of the Empordà, with the most personality and a marked Mediterranean character. There are areas here that make you feel like you're in Menorca or Crete, and that you can't imagine being in the Baix Empordà," he describes. On the estate, it's possible to travel from the riparian forest of the Torrelles stream to the dry, harsh landscape of vineyards and olive groves, surrounded by olive groves, marigolds, calamenta, and fennel, all the way to the typical aromatic scrubland of the Empordà region, based on donkey's head, rosemary, and thyme. Collado is growing a space next to a field of carob trees and has set up a contemplation area. "Here at Mas Flaquer, we can appreciate the richness of our landscape: the Mediterranean basin is the area in the world with the most aromatic plants."

The ITV of smell

Mas Flaquer, then, wants to become the "ITV of smell" as a "revulsive against a world that is evidently visual, apathetic, insensitive, drunk on so many images." They're dancing with mine. When I exhale you, Mariona and Ernesto merge with the whole. And that sounds poetic, but it's not pure chemistry. Culture, not through smell. To smell, you have to get close. For me, smell is empathy, transforming our relationship with nature.