Anything for his kids

It is not easy to swim against the tide. It is not easy to commit when nobody believes in you or to paint a neighbourhood in colour when everyone sees it in black and white.

But difficulty has never deterred Emilio Fernández, known as “caracafé”, the eminent and well-regarded character from Seville’s Tres Mil Viviendas neighbourhood.

He has been fighting for his dreams and beliefs since he was small. He started out with a flamenco guitar at the age of seven and with it under his arm he set off to write the score for his dreams: playing with the greats, recording records and making films. But he still had one dream to fulfil. The most important dream of all and the one that would truly set his life and his people on the right track: giving the Tres Mil neighbourhood a lottery of opportunities and changing a whole generation’s future.

Fired up by discipline, consistency and heart he determined to show them and the world what they were capable of and how far they could go by simply believing in themselves.  Emilio is one of those people whose face lights up with hope and looks to the future from the heart.

And so one day at the doorway to his house he began to gather children around him to teach them flamenco to get them off the streets. Emilio didn’t want anything for him. But he wanted, and still wants, everything for his kids. 

And because Emilio only dreams big, the doorway to his house quickly became too small. So he set up the Alalá Foundation where today more than 300 children learn kindness along with flamenco, do exercise and go to university. As Emilio himself says: “there is nothing bigger than that”.