Manuel López Rivero

I've never had much trouble talking about myself professionally; another thing is doing so on a more personal level, in what one carries inside. There, I've always found it more natural to live, to engage, and to move forward than to stop to recount it.

I've reached 55 with the sense that I've gone through very different stages, with successes and mistakes like anyone, but always trying to learn, to train myself well, and to give the best of me in everything I've done.

I've tried to adapt to circumstances, to restart when necessary, and to truly commit to what was in front of me. I've never been one to wait for things to happen on their own. I've always thought it's time to try, push, correct, and carry on.

My family has been the great anchor of my life. My parents were an example and a reference, and my wife and my children are an essential part of what I am. Being a father has been the most important responsibility of my life, because it means bringing lives into the world and knowing that from that moment you owe yourself to them forever. I've tried to be a good father, to be there, to support, and to draw as close as possible to the idea that I've always had of what a father should be. The rest, with time, they'll tell.

Friends have also been a very important part of my life. They are that family one has the privilege to choose. And even more valuable is feeling that they too choose you, that they want to be there, to accompany you and share the journey. That, to me, has enormous value. And alongside them, so many other people who have helped me, supported me, and believed in me far more than I did myself.

I don't think it's for me to judge what has been done or what remains to be done. In the end, what truly remains is not the material; it's what we leave in others: the memory, the affection, and the way we have passed through their lives. If there is something I would like to remain, it would not be the material things, but the memory of having tried to live with honesty, to support my loved ones and to accompany them in the best way I have known.