De viaje con Kiko Veneno: “Soy pesimista con el mundo, pero mi actitud vital es seguir poniendo rumba”

On the other side of the window, the sky is a summer blue and a raft drifts carelessly on the calm sea of Barrosa Beach. Kiko Veneno (Figueres, Girona, 74 years old) picks up his guitar. In the lounge of the Náutico in San Vicente, there is a chaos reminiscent of a revolution. Amidst the clinking of glasses, crossed conversations of an August holiday, and the enthusiastic nerves of musicians and staff on the brink of starting the concert, the first chords make their way forward.

Under the rays of sun, it seems as though they are laughing at the white platinum hair. Sitting on the sofa, in the midst of the heap, Veneno begins to sing 'I'm Sleeping'. With that rumbling voice, halfway between Andalusian grace and the Barcelona street, The Beatles' song becomes unreal. Everyone stops talking and, attracted by the music, looks for a candlestick in the glow of the guitar.

Veneno sings, smiles, and looks out the window while plucking the strings. There, in that very moment, as if a troubadour had to win the attention of strangers, the words he spoke the night before during a dinner of white wine, regaled with an abundance of sea urchins, take on meaning. "Musicians are underground anarchists," he stated.

Sitting to his left, his friend, the artist Miquel Barceló, nodded his head and topped off the half-empty glasses when Veneno brought the song to a close: "All our art does not need medals or institutions, but rather to meet ordinary people and offer them something positive through the songs."