"Without the love of my wife and daughters, I don't know if I would be alive."

When Ramon Madaula met Silvia Munt in the early 90s, she was a well-known actress and he was a budding actor. "She was a star, she had recently premiered The Diamond Square"He explains. It was in that context that a theater director summoned them both to a café to propose that they star in his play. It was the first time they had met in person. "Neither of us was entirely convinced by the project, and we exchanged home phone numbers to continue talking. That same afternoon, we called each other and confirmed that we didn't want to do it. We didn't work together, but it was the beginning of a relationship that has lasted thirty years."

Madaula is convinced that it was love at first sight. "From the beginning, we felt a strong connection. The day after the call, we made plans, and a few weeks after that meeting with the theater director, we were already living together." Of course, it wasn't all roses, and moving in together so quickly brought some complications. "Love at first sight is a great passion, but living together isn't so easy afterward. Perhaps we made the mistake of moving in together too soon; it required a few months or years of adjustment until we overcame everything." "Now I couldn't imagine life without her: I'm sixty and I've been with her for more years than without her," says Madaula.

The actor wholeheartedly agrees with the statement that "a relationship requires work." "I do believe you have to take care of each other, but I also believe that a relationship should be something that flows naturally," he argues. In this sense, he also believes it's important to share a similar outlook on life. "Silvia and I share political, literary, and musical tastes... This creates a connection that lasts over time. I want to be with her; we don't even need to talk, it's enough that we're together doing whatever it is," the actor says.

For Madaula, love for his partner and love for his children are the most important things in life. "I have few friends; it's one of my failures in life; I haven't managed friendships very well," he explains. That's why his love for Silvia and their three daughters is "the cornerstone of my life." "Everything can fall apart, but if this falls, I fall with it. I don't know if I'd be alive without their love. Not only wouldn't I know how to be alone, but I wouldn't know how to do anything in life. The strength I have, I have because of them," he says. Madaula is grateful for his good fortune. "I think love also has an element of chance. You can't look for it. It's either there or it isn't."