According to her brother, Inès Mateu was like this: “Even as a child, she would grab something as if it were a microphone and say: 'Inès Mateu, TV3, Bunyola'”

PalmShe's so blonde and has such blue eyes that, especially when she was little, people thought she was a foreigner. An uncle of hers used to call her "na Heineken" (a derogatory term for a woman who drinks Heineken). Those who know her highlight her way of explaining the world and her powers of observation. She grew up playing with dolls and Barbies—which she kept in "the tangled room," as her father called the toy room—in her own room filled with posters from the first season of Operación Triunfo (a Spanish reality TV show). Like so many others of that generation, she began the difficult path of self-discovery by taking the quizzes in Bravo and Súper Pop magazines. Today she's a journalist, and for the past year and a half she's been directing the program Xiu-xiu on IB3Ràdio. She tells us about Inès Mateu Parra (Bunyola, 1993) and her younger brother, Joan Mateu Parra.

"The first memory I have of Inès, and I don't know if it's made up because I've heard it so many times, is that I fell from the lamppost in the middle of the Bunyola town square. My sister was supposedly trying to lift me up, and I fell." That's the first thing Juan mentions, but it's just a small anecdote. Suddenly, Inès played the role of older sister perfectly: "She always had a 'stay alert' on her lips, and a 'we mustn't upset Dad.' It's the protective instinct," her brother affirms.

As time went on, Inès and Joan's personalities and temperaments diverged: "We didn't get along, we clashed. You could say I had a geeky side; I liked comics, I drew... She was a popular"She was the popular doll at the Sóller high school. She was like a pop star," says Joan. For a few years they had a give-and-take relationship, but over time they ended up "sharing spaces of friendship and life."

Beyond the sometimes tumultuous phase of adolescence, Juan remarks that the journalist is, throughout her life, a very fun and, at the same time, prudent person. He adds: "She has a very particular inner world and a very marked way of observing the outside world. This observational skill is something we both share, and I think it comes from my father, who taught us to anticipate things by observing people and our surroundings," he points out. This very ability, Joan says, has helped her remain calm on programs like... 5 dayswhere you have to interview people from all walks of life live: "She listens to you, but at the same time, she's paying attention to three other conversations. Television has given her a spectacular level of bullfighting skill. She has a great way with people," says her brother.

Even today, the family laughs when they remember the "big problem" Inés had as a child: "She was always saying she was bored. Uncle Jaume said that Inés was the first doll he'd ever heard say she was bored. I think she was bored because nothing was up to her standards, everything bored her. And, probably to avoid being bored, she played at being a journalist from a young age, grabbing anything as if it were a microphone and saying, 'Inés Mateu, TV3, Bunyola.' She was very clear about it. "I was surprised that she liked radio so much, because she has a very television-oriented profile."

Going back to her teenage years, Joan remembers a "hospital-green, very 90s" wardrobe that Inés had in her room. Inside the doors were posters of David Bisbal and Chenoa, but also of Fernando Torres. the ChildEl Canto del Loco… Of everything she touched: "As a teenager, she was never confused. She liked what she liked," says her brother, who mentions the film The devil wears Prada and series like Sex and the City and FriendsDespite the distance that separated the brothers at that time, they now share a common dream: "To have a project together in Mallorca." Long live brothers who dream like this!