Miquel Llabrés i Maria Llabrés: "Our daughters have preferred to study, running Café Ca'n Paris is a very big sacrifice"

SencellesArriving in a town and seeing a bar in the square is synonymous with people, with town life, but if we also add that the establishment bears the name Café, we understand immediately that behind it there is a patina of history that very likely speaks to us of the past, of stories and generations. In Sencelles, the hustle and bustle of the town, the history of the town in short, must be written with Café Can París as a pillar. Parties, meetings, funerals or conversations have had this place as a reference. Behind the counter, Miquel Llabrés Amengual (Sencelles, 1961) and Maria Llabrés Munar (Sencelles, 1964) have held the reins from 1981 until this summer. But as we say, Can París has a long history, and for that reason, sitting at a marble table and with the Café empty, we wanted to talk to them about it.

Café Can París is a reference in Sencelles and also has a long family tradition...

— Miquel (Mi): Yes, I was born right in here, so to speak. My grandfather left the Café to my father and mother—well, to my mother, since she was the one who was the grandfather's daughter. The story begins in 1933 when my grandfather took over this establishment and since then it has always been run by the same family. In 1967 my father and mother took it over and later, in September of 1981, they gave it to me and a few years later Maria, my wife, joined in.

— Maria (MA): Yes, he took over the bar, and a couple of years later I joined him.

Was the premises already a bar when your grandfather took it over or did he start it himself? And did it already have this name?

— My: It was already a bar. Grandfather took over the transfer. Or at least I have always understood that this was already a bar and that grandfather took it over when it already was one. And regarding the name, I am also certain that it was a different name; the person who transferred it to grandfather was a certain Rafel Roig or from Can Roig.

Now you are leaving it, but Can París will remain open. I say this to reassure the customers, right?

— Mi: In December, on the 5th of December, Miquel will turn 65 and will leave it completely. He has already left it now, and it will be a matter of transfer. We have transferred it. Those who are taking it over have told us that the intention is to be able to open it around October; now, I don't know the exact day.

I like to think that there is a bit of sadness that the family tradition of running the establishment has not been continued...

— Mi: That's true, consider that it's three generations. And even more so because I, since the age of six, have been in here and I feel sorry about it, truthfully, yes.

— Ma: We have had two daughters and we would have liked, mainly him, for our daughters to have run it and for it to have been the fourth generation already. But they told us: «We prefer to study». Since they have seen how things are... The girls, when they were little, we were not able to enjoy them. They, since they have already experienced it from the inside, know the sacrifices that running an establishment of this type entails. They told us they wanted to study and we did not object at all. Now, we have had the luck of being able to transfer it.

— Mi: We have run Can París for three consecutive generations, but our daughters have preferred to study and we understand that, running the Café is a very big sacrifice. Because you have to know how to "put up with" people; you have to like being with people. It is a space where they will tell you or you will hear one thing or another and you have to keep quiet, you cannot say anything, because if not, they leave.

— Ma: Miquel has always had more patience than me, you can tell it was in his blood. I would get a little worked up, but you had to put up with what they told you. There were customers with whom it was a pleasure to go to the table and have a little chat. It is worth it because I have enjoyed doing this job, but it was not like that with everyone. And then you look back from a distance and you see how it is many hours of slavery and it is not a rewarding job.

— Me: We would open at seven in the morning and sometimes it was one or two in the morning when we closed; we didn't have schedules. If there were people, you would hold on. It is also true that sometimes, tired, we have said: "guys, come on, we have to close", that we have indeed done.

Now that you have closed, have you received this support and affection from the people of Sencelles?

— Ma: Yes, there are those who say: "When is it opening again?". Tell them it's fine, it will open. But they also say to Miquel: "But it can't open again if you're not there". Because the truth is that he attracted people. Many people are very sorry that we are leaving it, but tell them that this will continue. They tell us "it won't be the same, you are the owners". We also receive many references in the sense that Miquel is a joker and used to play jokes on people. There are people who tell us: "We won't see that anymore, those scares you used to give us from behind...". There are people who do, who will miss us and they tell us so... but regarding those who will come in, we know them and there will also be pleasant treatment for the customers.

Maria, you who entered the bar later, did you understand that Miquel had lived it his whole life? And what did you expect from this new profession?

— Ma: Exactly. I was already working at a place and I asked for a leave of absence because I wanted to be with him. I said I would try it, I wanted to have the opportunity to try it, and the truth is that I liked it. I liked dealing with people, I saw that there was a pleasant interaction and it made me want to, I got a taste for it. And I said "come on", and I don't regret it.

Tell us if to continue eating a good assortment from Can París we will be able to keep coming here?

— Ma: Yes, I would say that they should come back to Can París, in the Plaça de la Vila in Sencelles, because according to what we are told, these young people want to follow the same line as the Café: the special 'pepitos' that we make at Can París—which are quite special—and the typical 'variats', which Miquel's mother, the grandmother, already used to make, I believe they will continue. The grandmother, my mother-in-law, did not make so many varied tapas, but she already made the 'variats'. And of course, we have followed the same tradition, we have added things, and the truth is that we hope that everything can continue just the same, it is what we would like the most.

How have you experienced these first few days, like for example now, in here with the bar empty, with no one around?

— Mi: I don't know how to explain it, it's something you say... When you close for vacation, for example in the month of August when we used to close for fifteen days, you were the same without people in here and you would get used to it. The thing is that you were working knowing that you would open again. You knew you would open in twenty days. Now it is different. But well, many things have happened these weeks that we have been closed. All the time we have been doing work to leave things in good order.

Earlier you told us about Miquel's pranks; in Sencelles, Can París and the owner's pranks are like a tradition. Who will pull the pranks now?

— Mi: I don't know. However, I know someone who will do them, which is me when I come back here as a customer.

— Ma: That's true! Also regarding the jokes, we must say that there have been people who got angry. I told Miquel more than twice. For example, sometimes he would play a joke on a customer by saying "watch out, something fell behind you" or he would throw the basin and the person would get a fright. Perhaps he didn't know that person at all and I would tell him: "Miquel, watch out, what if they get angry?". And he would say: "Well let them get angry, I didn't do it with malice". He did it to anyone, whether he knew them or not. He would just make the joke.

Have you noticed any differences between the first years of running the bar and now?

— Ma: There are differences. I have noticed for a couple of years and I suppose he has noticed it too. Let's see, I would say that we have never said it, but it was becoming burdensome.

I would like to think that the day Can París reopens, you will be the first customers?

— Mi: Those who have taken it already told me that upon opening they trust that I will go there the first few days. And I will help with everything they might need. Now, we won't be working, eh? Lest an inspector comes!

— Ma: Don't worry, it's not for working! What we will be able to do is to be with the customers, introduce them, and have a little chat, a bit longer than the one we always used to have. Also, make some jokes to the customers and also to the young people who will be running it. Little things like that. But yes, I think the customers, both for breakfast or to have something to drink, will come.

— Mi: The same clientele will come, because there are many who run into us on the street and ask us when it will open. We will see how it works. I believe they will do just as well.

Cafè Can París will continue to be Can París, will they keep the name?

— Mi: Everything will remain the same. When they came the first few days to chat they said: «Don't worry, we want to do everything just like you do. The name, everything. Making variats, pepitos...». If for example we didn't do a menu and they want to make one, let them do it.