An Interview with Jacobo – A Slab Aficionado
In-depth interview series
I first met Jacobo at a climbing wall near Valencia, Spain. It was a Saturday evening as we were wrapping up the day, his mobile phone started ringing non-stop. With my limited Spanish I thought his grandma was having a problem with her kitchen light. As it turned out he's in charge of several migrant homes, and he's not off the hook on the weekend.
Continue below to learn more about Jacobo.
Jacobo climbing in Placa Tumbada, Gestalgar
I’m not passionate about [big] cities. I think the most important thing about cities isn’t the present, but the future.
Tell us a bit about yourself
My name is Jacobo Cruañes. I was born in Valencia, Spain. I grew up, studied and now work in the same part of the city, the neighborhood called Zaida. [Ed note: 10-minute walk from el Carmen, the historic district of Valencia.]
Although, primarily I grew up in Valencia, I spent a lot of my childhood in the Italian Alps where my mother's side of the family are from, and in Jávea, where my father’s family live.
Besides Spanish, I also speak Valencian, as I studied it throughout my school years.
The back of Valencian Institute of Modern Art in the neighborhood el Carmen
Tell us about your work
I’m a social worker specializing in migrants and vulnerable communities. I work for the NGO Movement for Peace in the Humanitarian Fostering project run by the Ministry of Work, Migrations and Social Security. My work consists in housing migrants who arrive on the Spanish coasts. I manage three safe homes in the city of Valencia and assist migrants during their first six months in Spain — we cover their basic needs and help them with their first steps towards Spanish integration: learning the language, carrying out the initial procedures to obtain their documents and providing physical and mental health assistance.
Your Favorite Places and Climbing Partners
Without a doubt, my favorite place to climb, more than anywhere else, is the technical slab "Placa Tumbada" in Gestalgar. I also really like an area in Alcoy, called L´Hort del Pobret. It's very well-bolted and a lovely area to spend the day climbing.
I have a lot of climbing friends and I’m happy climbing with all of them. But in all honesty, Andy and Jordi, with whom I feel very safe and comfortable on the rocks. They motivate me a lot and it's usually when I'm with them I can push myself a level harder.
One Thing You Want People to Know about Valencia
Valencia is a pretty welcoming city and there is a lot to offer, without it being as massive as Madrid or Barcelona. Although there isn’t anything in particular that I would highlight about Valencia, I’m not passionate about cities. I think the most important thing about cities isn’t the present, but the future; there have been important changes in the government and public politicians during the last few years and the city is seeing a transformation to a more ecological model, more centered on people and run by politicians that are currently fostering direct civil society participation.
As with everything, these changes take years to see their effects, and that’s why I'm more interested in the future of the city rather than in the present, and although the new government has very good ideas and intentions, they are also making a lot of mistakes.
A Lesson You’ve Learned On Your Journey So Far
The answer is easy. Throughout my life, my travels and my work I have learned the most important lesson of all that origin, culture, religion, skin color, ideology, social class, don’t matter, none of this matters…. Everywhere you will find two types of people: marvelous people who are worth giving everything for, or total dickheads who aren’t worth a minute of your time. You shouldn’t judge anyone, but neither should you believe that everyone is good, nor that everyone is bad.