PLAY
It took Sara a long time to get over Pepe.
But she was a very strong woman, so strong.
I've only seen Sara sad when Pepe died. Only then.
When Pepe died, I'm telling you,
the smile almost disappeared from her face.
Sara's eyes weren't the same, even though she didn't cry.
It's true that I noticed a before and after
following my father's death.
My father was like the link uniting everything.
Our family, my mother, us, everything in general.
My life would obviously have changed very much if I'd stayed in Mallorca.
The truth is that I was very angry with my mother.
Why are you doing this? Why are you separating me
from everything connecting me to the island?
For her to perform that act of courage by going to Madrid
and saying, "I can't continue here"
where she may not be comfortable enough
to be 100 percent responsible for her children.
Now I put myself in my mother's shoes back then and I say, "Bravo."
It wasn't easy to leave that life in Mallorca,
that life of the four of us in the villa, in Na Burguesa.
So there, when she had to work and be Super Sara, she was,
but because she was a great actress.
She was an actress who was all actress.
Let's go. Silence on the set. We're rolling.
Ready?
-Would you say she was a phoenix? -Yes, yes, yes.
She was strong. Very strong.
A Super Sara, a super woman.
Have been looking for me for several days.
And they can't find me because my powers
have prevented them.
I'm a mutant. I'm Super Sara.
I'm persecuted and slandered for nothing.
Because it's me, me who calls the shots.
SUPER SARA
- Sara Montiel. - Sara Montiel.
Sara Montiel.
The '90s were a bit complicated
for all of Sara's female peers and for her too
because the music, films, everything being done at that time
was very different to what they'd done before.
The past is the past. All we have is the present.
And that idea, so typical in show business
and the star system,
that you always have to be doing something,
Sara already had it.
Sara! Sara!
Sara! Super Sara!
I've discovered that the police
Have been looking for me For several days
And they can't find me
Because my powers Have prevented them
Because it's me
Me who calls the shots
Because it's me, I'm Super Sara
I'm a very, very big fan of Sara's pop period,
which began with an album called Purísimo Sara.
I've been lucky enough to surround myself with wonderful people,
some new, young composers.
She moves to the beat of the new times,
reinventing herself.
She decided to completely reinvent her repertoire
and resort to the most modern young people of the time.
On that album there are songs by Sabina.
Two composers like José María Cano
-from the group Mecano. -By Canut.
Also Carlos Berlanga, an extraordinarily talented man.
The album where Sara said,
"You're all very modern, but I'm even more modern."
She presents Purísimo Sara and we dance to "Macho."
When the show's choreographer calls me to go work, I say, "No way.
I'm working with Sara!"
We're talking about six, seven years when Sara was a pop diva,
she was a Madonna of the Spanish scene.
There was a very funny incident.
The choreographer was preparing a routine
and all the dancers, us boys, were surrounding her.
It was a chaise lounge.
At one point we were dancing and we had to get closer to her.
I thought, "Well, let's respect her, her space."
She stopped us and said, "No, no, no, no. I'm Sara, touch me!"
She started to lift her leg and we were all like,
"Let's see who can grab her leg."
Fabulous, fabulous.
Fearless, she's a woman who was never afraid.
Maybe her contemporaries might have had their reservations,
but Sara took the plunge.
"What, Mom, and why don't you do a Spanish bakalao thing?"
I say, "Well, yes." And so I have three bakalao songs,
-but bakalao, bakalao... -Spanish techno, that is.
Sara doing the Bakalao Route, please.
Smoking, I wait for the man I love
Take that, take that. Do it, do it, do it.
Behind the glass of cheerful windows
Applause. Yes, sir.
If that's the rhythm of the moment,
then why think backwards and go to the past
-when you're in the present... -Good artists, they say, Sara,
are the ones who are ahead of their time.
-Well, of course. -And here's a classic like you
keeping up with the times.
And that idea so characteristic of the star system,
that you always have to be doing something,
and also for pleasure and because you like it,
Sara had that.
And I think that also speaks a little of her immense intelligence,
that she knew how to detect that when others were unable to.
I'd say she's one of the only ones who, for many decades,
had been wearing wigs.
All very over the top.
Her nails, obviously, very long nails.
I paint my nails because I'm very modern.
She's a trendsetter regarding nails.
I began to wear nails after my grandma and her.
And I go to New York all the time, to London,
and then I see that colored nails are all the rage.
She had green nails or she put rhinestones on them.
Then came Rosalía and a host of international singers.
Well, now I have rhinestones on them.
-Rhinestones. Let's see. -Some tiny rhinestones.
She did whatever she felt like doing.
"What do I feel like doing today?"
Well, I feel like going and putting on
this whole turquoise thing here
and covering all this area with the most extravagant glitter
so that I can dazzle everyone even more.
Everything in make-up that's in vogue and normal today,
contouring, how to make your eyes bigger,
eyeliner, the cat eye, as they call it,
all that is what Sara Montiel had been doing since the '60s.
It's such a timeless look.
Kim Kardashian, Monica Bellucci could wear it right now.
You have a clear idea of what you like,
how you look good and want to appear.
I think Sara always knew exactly how she wanted to appear.
That's why she insisted
on them putting on her famous stocking in all her interviews.
-But is that you? -Of course.
-Oh, you two frightened me. -Sara, we put them on
because since you always use the stocking thing...
Of course, the famous stocking.
You don't wear the stocking like that.
The stocking is to put on the camera so it removes your wrinkles.
She had been taking the stocking to sets for 40 years
and we used to laugh.
She was the precursor of the filter.
It's just that we were about 15 years younger, the dancers.
We came out looking like babies.
It's AI. It's an AI because she was a fucking AI.
She was very smart.
Remember when she appeared
on Fernando Schwartz and Ana Siñeriz's show
when she already had the stocking on like she was going to mug them.
The stocking is very important
because that way you can't see my wrinkles.
People can't imagine how funny she was, the sense of humor she had.
Sara would laugh at herself constantly.
She looks great, among other things, thanks to her recent plastic surgery.
With all my leftover skin, I made some leather wallets.
That's Sara's sense of humor.
Making a parody of her surgery, which was also very clever
because at that time plastic surgery was on everyone's mind.
She was transgressive even in that.
She's so impressive, so impressive that she can make fun of what she is.
Now you know, when you want to have a similar beauty,
-not the same, obviously... -Put the stocking on.
Put the stocking in front of the camera
and you'll see how it works.
-Thank you, Sara Montiel. -Thank you.
Sara Montiel was a very colorful character for the press.
We see this especially in the televised Sara Montiel.
And then she comes up with the idea
that the show is directly going to be her.
We saw Sara Montiel being rescued from a fire.
Thanks to them, okay?
It was all full of smoke.
And we've even seen Sara Montiel going to sing at a prison.
And in 1995, at the age of 67,
she posed for Interviú magazine again.
By then she was already a lady, as they say in the U.S.,
of a certain age, who didn't wear a bra,
who wore low-cut necklines.
And if you commented on it,
she would say, "It's just that I look fantastic."
She's happy with herself, so why should she change?
I wear as many sequins as I like.
I wear as much make-up as I like and I go wherever I like.
With the mentality
that she never thought about how old she was.
And that was already criticized.
Because I'm of a certain age and I've been through it.
This lady is too old to be in Interviú magazine.
What on earth is she doing adopting children?
What on earth is she doing staging these shows?
Many women who had been known above all
for their beauty and for being erotic legends
are sometimes not pardoned for growing old.
Older women are sometimes judged
with particularly sharp claws by the public eye.
Look at that hairstyle of yours. It's dreadful.
Freddy Krueger himself shivers when he sees Sara's nails.
Listen, she's upset,
but if I saw my mom like that I wouldn't let her go out.
It really hurts when you see an artist who gets harped on,
who gets mistreated because, as an artist, it really hurts.
Sara had the courage to go out in public without wearing make-up.
Don't be scared.
Don't wear see-through clothes because you have love handles
and if you wear them and people see through them, it looks dreadful.
They were merciless with Sara.
Sara wasn't allowed to grow old,
and what's more, she was punished for not having a perfect figure,
for not having a face without wrinkles.
Are you seriously not aware that the public
doesn't see you the way they used to?
What they call aging with dignity, which is disgusting, the term itself,
because it implies the person has to age
the way you consider they have to age,
which includes not dyeing their hair,
not having plastic surgery, not wearing a see-through top.
I'm wearing a see-through top
and I've been wearing them for 30 years.
This was yet another example of male chauvinist ignorance.
There was a lot of ridicule.
You listen to programs from back in the day again
and you say, "How can that host talk like that?"
The best thing for her to do is lock herself away at home
and stop going out and making a fool of herself at nightclubs.
"How can Sara Montiel keep wearing those dresses?"
"Will Sara Montiel be able to get on stage?
She's put on 20 kilograms."
She's a little plumper. Well, plumper without the little.
You let them call you...?
That supposed dignity that is demanded of female stars
with regard to aging is nothing more
than the umpteenth prison imposed on us women.
What did Sara do? She continued to participate in television programs
where they often maybe didn't laugh with her
and they could laugh at her,
but she always knew how to handle it in a particular way,
with a light touch.
You press people are so like that.
-And what are we like? -Divine.
And Sara somehow rebelled against this because she never tried to hide.
She had that work ethic.
This is the work that is done now
and this is the TV and this is the language.
-And so she did it. -A star?
Well, a star is what I am.
She was at a stage, perhaps, as they say,
after having lived such a passionate life, at a more boring stage.
She was very much into magazines. One day she was looking at Hola magazine
and suddenly she saw Joan Collins on the cover of Hola...
with a businessman 35 years younger than her.
Many of the greats have done this. Liza, Elizabeth Taylor.
Elizabeth Taylor goes into rehab, there she meets a construction worker
and makes him one of her husbands.
These weddings with people who suddenly appear in their lives
and it's surprising.
I think she took everything that was happening in the world,
made a very good cocktail and said, "Well, the next one will be me."
Hi, Sara.
As you can see, I've run into Kari here.
It's a dream I never thought would come true.
I mean, meeting people who really know you personally.
My parents used to take me to the theater to see your films
and the truth is that I was really impressed
by that immense beauty on the big screen.
And the truth is that since then my idol has always been Sara Montiel.
She told me she was getting to know someone over the Internet.
One day she said to me, "Pedro, I've fallen in love."
And I didn't believe it.
Who would you dedicate your last cuplé to?
I would dedicate it to the man I met over the Internet.
-No way! -Yes.
Sara Montiel was even a Tinder trendsetter.
Internet user for love,
-Internet passion. -Oh, yes.
Well, you need to be up to date. The thing is, he's very young.
Tony was a fan. Tony was a total fan.
He was a film buff. A fan in every sense of the word "fan."
She told me that she had a boyfriend,
a Cuban guy who was an excellent guy who was much younger than her,
but who looked after her, who would accompany her for life.
I do believe that the story with Tony Hernández was true
because he was a guy who, let's remember,
taught film classes at the University of Havana,
an expert on and admirer of her career.
Who doesn't like to have their old stories known?
-That's how they hit it off. -Let's see that Cuban cigar.
Sara was alone and when she saw that Tony
was paying her that kind of attention she didn't get from other people,
she immediately jumped at it.
I don't know if it was grasping at straws.
Very good, very good.
All of us who were her friends were there for her.
I understood her relationship with Tony perfectly
because her children were already older by then.
Then she said, "Well, look, I'll be accompanied, I'll be happy."
She told me so with these words,
"I don't want to be alone because I feel very alone."
So if there's a man who adores me,
who respects me, who is a film lover...
Sara felt understood, felt like this man knew her past,
and above all felt accompanied.
Goodbye.
Zeus and Thais were afraid that the relationship
with Tony Hernández would damage their mother's image.
My children have a future,
but I have no future, I have the present.
They both had needs that came together.
The love that someone can feel for their idol
and the person who wants love
because they lack that affection that others are unable to give them,
has to come from a man.
So I'm going to live the present to the max.
Do you know what "to the max" means? To the max.
Don't even go there, it doesn't pay off, it doesn't benefit you,
that person doesn't love you even if you think so.
And maybe you need to fall on your face to realize that's the case.
And it's happened to me with my partners.
My mom often said, "Hey, be careful." And I'd say, "It's okay."
And they stuck it to me.
When her children told her, "It's either this person or us"
and they left home, I can assure you that really hurt her.
The fact is her children didn't accept it that way
and she really suffered.
Above all, I remember the stress she felt when her children left.
How bad she felt, her desperation.
I completely understand her children's point of view on that.
I would have left as well. I would have left.
Thais has declared
that she doesn't feel comfortable with this relationship.
I've been a widow for 10 years
and I don't have to answer to anyone, not even my children,
about whether or not I get married or if I marry a crocodile
or if I marry a mule, I don't care.
And she says, "What would happen if I got married?"
You have to publish this in Hola
and you have to sell it for a fortune.
She told me not to tell anyone at all,
that she had an exclusive that she could lose.
A very good exclusive.
Sara has everything sealed with Hola magazine,
but her plans are thwarted when the judge who was going to marry them
at her home backed out 24 hours beforehand.
They go to the Majadahonda Courthouse.
They think nobody knows
and they're accompanied by two witnesses.
And what happens? The news is leaked by a television program.
Apparently, Sara Montiel and Tony Hernández
have come here to get married.
News that we will soon verify.
Not only does all the media turn up at the courthouse,
but they're also onlookers, Sara's fans.
Mind you, they come out separately. Sara comes out first.
Sara, how are you?
You just got married, didn't you?
No way. But what's the deal? But what is this invention?
Sara Montiel left us the first meme of the 21st century.
-But what's the deal? -But what's the deal?
-But what is this invention? -But what is this invention?
Nothing. We're here to sort out paperwork
so we can get married tomorrow or Monday.
Because here both dying and getting married is impossible.
You need 800,401 papers.
When we went out, that was like the 2nd of May.
Tony waited a few minutes and then came out.
And they'd changed their clothes
since they were aware the press was there.
Excuse me. Just a moment, please. Tony, just a moment.
Folks, I only came to collect the paper I was missing,
which arrived from Cuba.
The Twin Towers usher in the century
and the continuation is Sara Montiel's wedding.
-Long live the bride and groom! -Long live!
Imagine how clever she is to be able to snag an exclusive.
That's so clever too, darling. That's a star.
You people just go off on a tangent...
Congratulations, you just got married.
But we didn't get married!
Following this comes a story that would make a great movie.
Even the make-up artist hiding in the trunk
with that reddish, straightened hair, showing off in front of all of Spain.
-Thank you very much, Sara. -Thank you, Sara.
Of course she got married, come off it.
Long live the bride and groom!
I was best man at the wedding because she insisted.
But I wasn't comfortable with that wedding either.
Consequently, by the power invested in me by the Constitution
and especially Article 51,
paragraph one of the Civil Code, I declare
Antonio Noel and María Antonia to be joined in marriage.
If you would like to put on the rings...
She said that I was like a brother to her,
that no one from the family was going,
that everyone was against it, that her children were against it,
that she felt alone, so please.
That photo was good. We'll repeat that photo.
-That would be the best one. -That photo was good.
EXCLUSIVE: SARA MONTIEL AND TONY HERNÁNDEZ'S WEDDING
What does Sara Montiel need 20 million pesetas for?
-Not 20, not 40, not 50. -You don't need it, Sara.
You've never sold anything in your life
and I don't think your husband needs it being with you.
You called us vultures. Do you know what vultures eat?
Do you want to tell me why you feed us?
That exclusive of her wedding to Tony Hernández hurt her a great deal.
It's not dignified to lie like you and Tony have lied to the public.
-Oh, I have a poison that's divine. -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I do think that whole moment was negative for Sara
because beyond her sense of humor,
what came across was a kind of lack of sincerity.
And it's not her fault. It's the media's fault.
They tried to cheapen her image, to make fun of her.
They didn't understand that Sara, as a star,
wanted to be in the spotlight.
Liar!
-Questions... -That little finger.
And I think suddenly there was this click, everything changed
and Sara became, unfortunately, a caricature
of what she had been for so many, many years.
-And the audience booed Sara Montiel. -No...
-I was there. I was on that set. -Excuse me. Excuse me.
Never.
-Sara, I'm telling you... -Never!
We were all very unfair to Sara Montiel.
And I include myself.
We have all fed off this woman. All of us.
Directors, sets, magazines.
It's true that by appearing on so many television shows
and appearing so often in magazines airing that relationship,
Sara becomes a completely mundane character.
Why would she stay at home during the last years of her life?
Why wouldn't she want that new generations
got to know her on television?
Like all the other characters.
They've all used the press, all of them.
Suddenly, in the most helpless part of this terrible third act,
an angel descends from heaven, which is MTV, and rescues her.
Marvelous.
-Marvelous. -Marvelous.
Marvelous.
"I'm going to make a worldwide commercial with MTV
and, well, they were going to get Madonna to do it
and ended up getting me instead."
One of those things when you say, "Thanks, universe,
because someone understood me."
Sara Montiel was the face of the European Music Awards.
Not Jennifer Lopez, not Madonna.
-Marvelous. -I think it's very cool
that a television network like MTV decided to choose Sara...
-Marvelous. -...to participate in that video.
It caused a bit of a stir in Spain
because here we are so jealous all the time
and we criticize trendsetters and we ridicule them.
"Marvelous" is something anyone can say,
but with the artistry that Sara says it...
-Let's hear it. -Marvelous.
Marvelous.
Do you think you responded well as a mother in this case?
Of course. In this case and all cases.
Your daughter is struggling.
Don't tell me that at some point in this whole story
your children haven't said, "Mom,
please don't make a fool of yourself."
Sara's big decision at a certain point was
to put her children first.
She couldn't live with that rupture, with her children not talking to her.
And she understood that her marriage to Tony was absurd
and couldn't last another day.
I told him that I wanted my children back
because Tony hasn't fulfilled his role with me as a husband.
Because he didn't want to live here in Madrid.
I told him we had to split up because we couldn't live like that.
Because I felt alone without children,
without him and without anyone.
I believe her love as a mother won out over her love as a woman.
In her youth, in a group. In adulthood, as a couple.
And in old age, alone.
Alone with children, without children. Why?
Because in a way, life pushes you into a corner.
And at home, who are you with? Alone.
Thing is, loneliness can be good or bad
depending on whether it's chosen or not.
Because of everything this woman went through,
I think people are often left
with the parody of the character when she was on television.
The LGBT public never forgot that she had been a big star
and that she went to the U.S. and conquered the world.
Saritísima is the first LGBT icon in Spain. The first.
Unfortunately, the LGBT community has had a very rough time
and maybe we also felt a sense of empathy
with the character's suffering.
And then there was that touch of fantasy, of sparkle,
of sequins that she offered
that all of us in the queer world have always liked.
I mean, look at me, darling.
When gay men are attracted to these divas,
it is not because we want to be them, but because we see in them
a reflection of that world of fantasy,
of that world of happiness that we have often been denied.
I have seen Sara Montiel going to gay bars and saying,
"Let's go see my little fairies because they need me to be there."
Well, now in Germany it turns out that they've chosen me as godmother,
queen of German gays.
The fact that gay people imitated you
was the best thing that could ever happen to you.
The LGBT audience,
once they adopt you, are the most loyal audience.
They were very loyal precisely because she was also loyal to them.
They admire me
and I'm friends with the boys and I'm friends with the girls.
Sara Montiel was a freak in the end because she was a free woman,
for being a sexual woman, for dressing differently.
In the same way that Jesus Christ is there to promote
the Christian religion,
you need Sara Montiel for popular culture.
I have some beautiful dresses that I have already given away
and I'm waiting for some friends of mine
to do some amazing drag performances.
Drag and classic transvestism
were certainly inspired by Sara.
There are colleagues who are drag queens
who have made a living out of being Sara Montiel all their lives.
Their show was imitating, recreating Sara Montiel.
As Sara, there is Carla Vanoni.
But which one is the real Sara?
-Margot. -We had Boro and Nino.
Very good drag queens because she loved being imitated.
The one that comes most to mind is Sandra Montiel.
She's the one I worked with most. She was much more over the top.
The hand, the movement, much more than Sara.
They dress like me, they wear make-up like me,
even better than me.
She is a tremendous drag queen herself.
Sara's make-up, Sara's cheekbones, Sara's expression.
Don't look straight into the camera, a little to the side,
tilt your little head a little, and so on, darling.
The LGBT community needs these role models.
It's like they make you say, "Why not me?
I'm going to live my life the way I want."
She knew there was an audience
and a need for this kind of absolute fantasy.
I see Sara and I'm happy. I have so much fun.
We owe her many hours of happiness.
I loved what she did with Alaska. That was like saying, "I am eternal."
Absolutely
I refuse to listen to you For another second
Apparently
We did it out of pure selfishness because we admire her,
because she's part of our cosmos.
Effectively
The thing is Sara doesn't need us to defend her.
It's just that for us it was a real treat to work with Sara.
A fight between two divas tugging at each other's hair.
Because they knew what we wanted and they gave it to us.
Absolutely
I mean, she was the most absolute muse.
The most absolute there was, Sara Montiel.
Sara went on from being everything she was to become a pop figure.
I believe that in the pop universe there are very few figures in Spain
and one of them is Sara Montiel.
You're the best, Sara.
And what's more, I love it because you've managed to preserve
and I'd even say improve your sense of humor,
and that makes you even greater.
You're so huge that we'll have to leave Spain
to make room for you.
All right, jump.
Paco, don't turn your back on me. What's the problem?
Crouch down, Paco. Paco, crouch down.
-What? -Kneel down.
Hi, Paco.
The man who was the manager of Sara Montiel's companies
is on trial today.
He is accused of embezzling from the artist.
The prosecution is asking for six years in prison for him
and compensation that her children estimate
to be more than 500,000 euros.
Everyone thought Tony Hernández was taking advantage of Sara.
What nobody knew was that the person who would hurt Sara Montiel the most
was one of the people she trusted the most.
Her children were there. It all happened in a way that was quite...
When Pepe disappears, that whole part disappears too.
That representative, that businessman,
that guide also disappears.
My father was like the link uniting everything.
My mother was good at what she was good at,
which was quite a lot, acting, singing, presenting,
but she wasn't a businesswoman, she didn't work in the economy.
For more than two decades,
Francisco has been the artist's right-hand.
He acted as her manager.
He was the person, after my father passed away,
that my mother relied on
or thought was the most suitable person to delegate to.
Pepe Tous introduced this guy into their lives
because he was a close friend of Pepe Tous's administrator.
He would go into that household and he had all the trust in the world.
It was all very harsh. He was like family.
Almost as if your son had stolen from you.
This opportunity
to meet with all of you in bits and pieces
from all over Castilla la Mancha.
One of the triggers was that he told her at a certain point
that all the galas for the Castilla la Mancha Council
were behind schedule with payments and that they weren't paying him.
She knew the council's administration at its highest level
and obviously she took action.
-I have sued him... -Yes.
I have sued him for misappropriation.
But you've still got money to live comfortably.
This gentleman didn't simply take commissions.
He took entire chunks from Sara Montiel's work.
The prosecutor demands six years' jail time
and estimates to be almost 350,000 euros
the amount he stole or siphoned
from Sara Montiel's bank accounts into his own.
This wasn't simply an unfortunate management situation.
There was an orchestrated effort to embezzle.
He was her right-hand man for two decades
and in 2008 the singer gave him powers
to administer her real estate and business assets.
This man would hand her empty pages and she'd sign them.
She wasn't used to it.
He was appointed her guardian in case she became incapacitated.
I'm very sad because he was like a son to me.
Sara, you suffer from panic attacks now, don't you?
Finally, the Provincial Court of Madrid
sentenced Francisco Fernández
to two years in prison and a fine
and to pay Sara's children,
as her heirs, damages of 350,000 euros.
Sometimes when someone so close to you hurts you so much,
I think it's better to lose your consciousness a little.
And she, poor thing, didn't lose it.
It's a shame because I truly believe that period
was what really sapped my mother's strength.
If this hadn't happened, my mom would've lived many more years.
I know that for sure.
She was very disillusioned about many things.
She lost a lot of people and she found others too in the end.
I'm telling you, towards the end she had good friends too.
In her twilight years she was Bibi's and my groupie.
She came to all our gigs.
She came so often that afterwards she would come out with us to party
and we'd go to Válgame Dios.
Well, I'm sure that part of coming to see us so much
was because we paid attention to her, real attention.
There was a very large wooden table where the three of us were sitting
and as the night went on people kept coming in
and she would say, "Come on, so and so, sit down."
I loved Sara and Loles too.
Back then it was so real and it was wonderful.
People often said, "But she's really old. She's really tired."
No, she was just depressed.
Suddenly, Glamour magazine called
and their editor at the time proposed,
"We'd like you to do an interview with Sara Montiel."
The feature with Boris became the last feature.
The last photo shoot.
I wanted her to feel loved,
especially after all those years of so much badgering.
I prepared a space with the French champagne
that Sara liked,
with the Cohiba cigars that she liked, with roses.
It's true that Alberto paid special attention to things like this
and you can see that everything is meticulously worked out.
She's lying in bed like half-naked with the sheets arranged like that.
This lady is frankly incredible.
I truly regret not having managed to understand
that Sara really could have been a friend of mine
and that she really reached out to achieve that.
I think we owe her so much.
A tribute, which hasn't been paid to her either.
I don't know if I should tell you that in Spain we were unfair
to a figure like Sara.
And I think she would have liked to receive more tributes
like the one she received in Miami.
And in New York, for example, they hosted events for her.
Sara Montiel closes her tour of the U.S.A. in New York.
She has also visited Chicago
and the University of Cincinnati, where they paid tribute to her.
There has been so much injustice done to her
because Sara should have an Honorary Goya Award.
She so deserves it. Please, a pioneer.
Sara Montiel's films
have been seen by millions of people around the world
and that the Academy didn't acknowledge that
with an Honorary Goya Award, which shouldn't be a problem at all,
I can't forgive it.
I'll be honest with you,
it always seemed like everything rolled right off her back.
But not when it came to the Goya Award.
I mean, come on.
There hasn't been a representation of beauty outside this country
more important than hers.
Damn it, give her the Honorary Goya.
Because she's the one who deserves it the most.
Look over there and you'll see your mother coming.
-And your sister. -Where?
Mommy!
I remember my mother sitting down,
but she kind of had her back to me looking at the wall.
And when I left, I had a very strange sensation.
Like, I believe in these things. I knew something would happen.
And then we won't be here.
And then you'll say, "Oh, look, I was with my mom,
my dad, my brother and my Grandma Fanny."
Do you understand?
And I remember a text message, because my sister knew
that I had an exam, and she wrote me, "Mom just died."
So, of course, I quickly picked up my phone.
I called and they confirmed it, and I didn't want to believe it.
She was with Ana, the girl we all trusted at home,
and she died in her arms.
My sister was at home. They tried to resuscitate her and so on.
A heart attack was what finished her off.
From one moment to the next.
For me, the day Sara died...
My God, I think it's one of the worst days
I've ever had in my life.
A few days before she called me asking to come over
and, due to unforeseen circumstances,
that last get-together at home didn't happen.
And then I felt really bad, really awful.
I don't know, I felt like...
Oh, you know those things that you don't expect?
"What's wrong with me?" I couldn't react.
She didn't die because she was a sick woman.
And because she was older? Yes, she was older,
but just as old as when she came to see me.
But I didn't see her as a woman who was going to die.
At least for the better, under the circumstances,
she died that way, which was all of a sudden.
Today, hundreds of fans bid farewell to Sara Montiel
as the great diva she was.
And, in a way, she also said goodbye to them.
Her hearse was driven down Madrid's Gran Vía amid applause.
It was as if Madrid knew
that it was saying goodbye to its biggest star.
Long live Sara!
Long live the Violetera!
I got very emotional.
That's when I really realized that Sara Montiel was very important.
Young people, children, older people, all applauding.
Like an institution really. That's what Sara Montiel was.
Not only did I have a mother, but I also had a historical figure.
I stood in front of the coffin alone for a while.
She had an emotional youth. She never grew old.
And, well, I said goodbye the way I thought I should.
Just for having spent a minute of my life by her side,
it's been wonderful.
For me, it was important to be there
because it's saying goodbye to a person
who, without intending to and without being any of all that,
has been very important in my life.
I think we had to pay our respects to this wonderful artist,
this wonderful woman, wonderful person,
and very, very good mother.
And also a very dear friend.
I knew I was coming to say goodbye
and I think far more people should have come.
That day I did feel sad
because I thought there were very few familiar faces.
Well, I coincided with Loles and three others.
I'm talking about authorities, fellow professionals,
crowds in the streets.
Spain, which buries its dead very well,
did not bury Sara Montiel well.
A country that doesn't pay homage, respect
and bid farewell to its greatest, greatest artists
seems to be a very backward and uncultured country to me.
I think that today many things are being said
because young people have no memory of what Sara Montiel was.
And so we have a distorted image.
But Sara has been one of the major figures
in all our country's film industry.
That Hola cover probably took its toll on a lot of people
as well as that marriage and that last part with Tony Hernández.
I think that if it took its toll on those people, they're very mistaken.
But I mean, come on, do you know what Sara Montiel has done?
Are you aware?
Or are you only going to focus on Sara Montiel's last four years?
Above all, we must always have the feeling
that Sara is the first Spanish-speaking star.
An actress like Sara Montiel will never die.
Sara Montiel is immortal.
It's impossible for there to be another Sara.
It's not that I miss someone like her.
It's that there isn't anyone like her now.
Sara Montiel is like entering a dream, a fantastic dream.
Drama, charm, sensibility,
and above all she conveyed a will to live
and a will to always push forward.
A person who has belonged to our history,
to our history of entertainment.
Sadly, my mom's no longer with us
and it's true that we value things more when we don't have them.
I also went to say goodbye to her.
Antonia.
They won't be able to erase her in the years to come.
I've felt the affection and love of people
for having the family name Montiel
and the truth is I wear it with great pride.
I think she was a great teacher
when it came to showing us how to enjoy life,
which is with freedom and doing what you feel like doing.
She was endearing, approachable.
I've felt very high respect for her and deep affection and admiration.
I kneel down at this lady's feet.
-Marvelous. -Don't move, Antonia, don't move.
She was my best friend and I loved her very much.
Unrepeatable.
We loved her, we love her, we remember her.
Antonia Abad will not be erased as long as she lives in our hearts.
My thoughts and my heart have always been with her. Always.
Glory to Sara Montiel.
What one sentence would you like to be remembered by?
Simply, Sara Montiel.