They call her that, "la Melero", which is a form of respect and proximity at the same time. I know her well. She vibrates with journalism as if she were under the influence of electricity, and she lets herself be surprised, with the vehemence of the backseat that came to Marathon (and then died) to give the news and with the indomitable surprise of cats. A cat cannot help but turn to where there is news. It is its nature. What I mean by this is that Helena –Melero– has the instinctive part of the journalist, but also the intelligent part. It is a mix that I admire, because I will never have it. Melero would be Lot's wife. They tell her to flee from Sodom and Gomorrah, but not to turn around to look, because if she looks, she will turn into salt. And she looks, of course. Because she is a journalist. And she turns into a pillar of salt. I think she is one of my favorite characters in history, Lot's wife.
Melero may have suffered from the great beauty she possesses. We all tend to value one of the two things, beauty or intelligence, but it is difficult for us to value both at the same time. The great irony that she uses for every aspect of her life, without filters, without a mask, with a sincerity that is close to us, familiar, of course, has made me, who has been walking around those sets where she reigns for a long time, laugh with her like never before. Melero is funny, but also credible, but also empathetic, but also serious.
Someone like her has received offers from other television channels, with other languages, stronger, and other audiences, larger. But she has decided to do television in Catalan, every morning, for years. As she has made a pact with Lucifer, she does not seem at all like a veteran journalist, who for many years has approached us every day and talks to us as an equal. Melero has been part of our television for many years and it is time, really, to tell her – if we meet on the street – that she is the best. And thank you for doing it here, in Catalan.
