'Guarres!', the Catalan podcast of the moment that Ada Colau adores: "We don't aim to be role models for anything"

BarcelonaArnau Pericàs (2005), Martí Salvia (2005) and Luana Rocha (2005), are three third-year audiovisual communication students at Pompeu Fabra University who are currently succeeding with their video podcast Guarres!, a program in which they weekly talk about sex frankly, without filters and without fear, in a bold and provocative way..Last year they took the radio class, in which they had to present an audio pilot, and they decided to talk about sex in a theatrical way, with characters from their own fantasy universe. That episode was very different from what we can find on their platforms now, and it received a grade of six out of ten. All three were left with a great desire to apply the professor's corrections, which is why last summer they decided to resume the project voluntarily and extracurricularly. Despite changing the program's structure, they kept the characters of Gina Bashina, Luz Phallus, and Consol Adó.

They published the first episode of the program at the end of October last year, and in these four months they already have more than thirty thousand followers on their social networks. From the original episodes they publish on YouTube with an approximate duration of forty minutes, the creators adapt the format to shorter clips for Instagram and TikTok and have managed to make them viral with hundreds of thousands of views. Furthermore, Guarres! has achieved a community of followers who constantly interact on the posts and who have become part of the program with their questions.

At the end of what is their second season, activist and former mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau participated in an episode of the podcast. In the last segment, she appears as a special guest and chats casually with the protagonists of the project. At the beginning of the interview, Colau recognizes them: "You are a reference for all of Catalonia." All three agreed that they are still processing this flattery, that despite starting without many expectations, and without expecting to end up "being a reference for anything," the main goal was to be able to continue doing it. In this case, the fact that models they have admired like Ada Colau or Judit Martín, who also appears in the second season, value them, "is a real pride".

They started by recording the first episodes without the university's knowledge and following their own organization as 20-year-old students starting out on this type of project. As they explain, during the recording process of the second season they improved in this aspect, condensing the days at the faculty's studios, to whom they are grateful for having provided all the facilities. All that is needed is a technician, a camera, a helping hand in managing guests, a green screen and, as Pericàs says, "having a clear vision and executing it".

Besides vision, you also need good characters who attract with their stories. "In each season, we first make the episodes and then we think about what is happening to the characters while they are recording, as if they were real people recording a podcast. All of this is fictionalized and we agree on the entire season's narrative so that they have an evolution," explains Rocha. Following comments from viewers who showed particular curiosity about the protagonists' personal lives, they have delved deeper into each one.

As a result of the success the program has had on podcast platforms, YouTube, and their social media, Gina, Consol, and Luz were invited to El Matí de Catalunya Ràdio, to Els teloners on RAC1, and they appeared for the first time on television on TV3's Col·lapse. They explain that El Matí, being their first appearance in a media space, opened the doors to the rest. And that on Col·lapse they greatly enjoyed the experience, which was "impactful" because it was television and had an audience that perhaps we wouldn't consider their target audience. In the case of Els teloners, they recall the ease with which they could provoke scandalous laughter from the live audience of the program.

Salvia explains that this recognition "has been rapid but progressive." They are beginning to feel the program's impact in moments such as contact with reference figures, receiving daily messages of admiration, or even receiving photographs of groups dressed as their characters for carnivals. Likewise, industry professionals they have spoken with have already emphasized that it is not at all common to have had such an impact in such a short period of time. "We have little to compare with, it's the first big project we've done, it's all new," emphasizes Pericàs.

Between the person and the character

Gina, a French woman, Consol, a Catalan woman, and Luz, an Andalusian woman, are the protagonists of the program. But when we ask Luana, Arnau, and Martí how they live their characters, they are clear that it is they who get all the credit. "Sometimes we do want to express this duality (character and person) but we also don't want to break the fantasy. We use them a little to say what we want to say ourselves. We are not them, but many of the things they say are opinions we have," responds Pericàs. All three have been able to discover that being inside the character protects you in many situations from the shame or prejudices you might impose on yourself, because you can justify everything through them. "Everything that happens to us outside the podcast in the media sphere, we always play to our advantage, we take advantage of what happens to us to fill the plots," he adds.

Far from the obvious humorous tone, Guarres! is a program that talks about sex, which, through the characters of three elderly friends and unconsciously, does a lot for sexual education, not necessarily dedicated only to younger generations. They deal with and explain concepts of the new century, genders and their needs, the expression of sexual freedom, and the dangers and malpractice within this area. It makes it even more special for all three to feel that everything they talk about is very internalized, without any intention of lecturing. On the other hand, Gina, Consol, and Luz do propose a didactic podcast where they help listeners.

After a first season of six episodes and a second season which is still missing its sixth episode, the three students are already planning new horizons for the program with which to explore other creative facets. They show a great desire to do things with an audience and do not rule out other formats. The third season promises better conditions and changes that they face with great enthusiasm. Rocha explains it clearly: "People are very hooked on the podcast because of the characters. You create a familiarity with them, and that allows you to take them out of the podcast episode context and bring them to other scenarios and greatly hybridize the proposal. We are eager to see what the possibilities are."