Encarna Sánchez
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Encarna Sánchez (September 19, 1935 – April 5, 1996) was an influential Spanish
talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
host and current events commentator. Generally viewed as a
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
, her views were of great influence on working, middle classes and ruling Governments in Spain at that time. She was well known for her coverage of political scandals, such as those surrounding the collapse of
Felipe González Felipe González Márquez (; born 5 March 1942) is a Spanish lawyer, professor, and politician, who was the Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) from 1974 to 1997, and the 3rd Prime Minister of Spain since the ...
's government in 1996. She won three Ondas Awards, an annual recognition given in Spain to major media personalities and shows. Nevertheless, her show was not explicitly political, and concerned itself with general issues relevant to the Spanish public. Her subject matter could be roughly compared to that of ''
The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicag ...
'', though Sánchez particularly emphasized social issues. She is known for keeping in touch with her listeners’ daily problems through the show’s long call-in segments.


Style

Her style was aggressive at times, more subdued and sympathetic in interviews. When she first appeared on radio, her powerful, slightly hoarse voice assisted her in drawing casual listeners surfing the airwaves. At the height of her popularity, she dominated the early evening timeslot, with ratings comparable to morning host Luis del Olmo, and midnight sports host José María García, of Supergarcia fame. Like García, but unlike del Olmo, she had many prominent enemies on whom she dealt especially strong criticism. Some were famous entertainment personalities, such as TV hosts whose shows she found distasteful. Others were important politicians whom she felt to be corrupt.


Life and radio shows

Encarna, the youngest of five siblings, was born in the little town of
Carboneras Carboneras is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Almería (province), Almería province, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Demographics References External links *Carboneras- Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de ...
,
Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...
on the Southeastern coast of Spain where a small square a few metres from the beach is named after her. She was only a few months old when her father, a Republican military official, was killed as he did not join the fascist uprising. When Encarna was 14 she used to meet her boyfriend after school. He worked for a local radio station in Almería and one day she was given the opportunity to sub for the regular host, a woman who was ill at the time. The show editor, who also happened to be the station manager, was impressed and offered her first contract. She was immediately enamored with the world of radio broadcasting. The following year she moved to Madrid to pursue a career as a radio host in the Radio Juventud Network which has a training school there. In her own words Encarna said that she 'passed in one year the required courses which would usually take five'. As a professional she worked for Radio Juventud and Radio España, in
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, and then she was in charge of marketing at a
San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...
radio station, in the Basque Country of Northern Spain. Back in Madrid she began to be a well-known voice with nightly shows such as Esto es España, Señores (This is Spain, gentlemen), CS y buen Viaje (CS and good trip – CS being the show sponsor) and La noche vista por mí (The night as seen by me). In 1970, Encarna accepted a contract in Mexico and later worked for stations in the Dominican Republic and Los Angeles while she was studying radio production for the ABC network. She married a company manager in Los Angeles but they divorced after three years and she decided to come back to Spain at a time when the country was moving towards democracy, two years after Franco’s death in 1975. Though relatively popular in Madrid and Barcelona when she returned to Spain, Encarna was not a 'coast-to-coast' radio host yet, as Luis del Olmo, who had a program with that name, already was. That changed when she signed for
COPE The cope (known in Latin as ''pluviale'' 'rain coat' or ''cappa'' 'cape') is a liturgical vestment, more precisely a long mantle or cloak, open in front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colours, litu ...
in 1981, a network she would not leave until her death. In the period 1978-81 she was the queen of the nights with her Encarna de Noche show (Encarna at night) in Radio Miramar, Barcelona. Then she hosted Directamente Encarna (Directly Encarna) in the early evenings since 1981. During the last years of her life, she faced lung cancer in her typical challenging brave hard-working mood. For some months, in her four-year fight, she flew daily to Switzerland for treatment in the morning to be at her desk in Madrid at 4 p.m. for the millions who had made it into a habit to tune into COPE to listen to the four-hour show. Once she started to fail to host more and more shows, speculation about her health began to spread in early 1996 as her listeners were given little information about a situation Encarna wanted to keep pretty much to herself by asking the few friends who knew about it not to reveal it was cancer. In her last months, she sometimes called up the show still being aired by COPE, in part because not even the managers knew exactly how serious her condition was and partly because of the great amount of revenue in sponsorship the show attracted even without her. Then, in one of these calls, she referred to her disease as that 'little ailment for which the doctor has advised a few days rest'. She said to the 'millions of friends' that had encouraged her that 'the sound radio has been for me, and will continue to be, the shortest way to understand the road to friendship and, above all the road to loyalty… Now, I am here …You will smile again soon. You’ll come to meet me again. Soon I will be able to say with all the courage in the world: tremble, bunch of crooks!!'. Encarna Sánchez died of lung cancer on April 5, 1996. Her voice is still missed by her listeners and has yet to find a comparable substitute. Though to many her style was extreme, populist and somewhat fanatic, her shows, above all the early ones, always had some form of social commitment and service as she helped—and entertained— millions of Spaniards for over 30 years.


Controversies

In her lifetime, one of the controversies surrounded
Martes y Trece Martes y Trece were a trio (and later, duo) of Spanish comedians whose members were Josema Yuste, Millán Salcedo and Fernando Conde. Their style was characterized by grotesque gags on everyday life and caricatures of famous people. The trio mad ...
, one of the most famous comedians in Spain ever. The best known sketch of the duo was about a confused mum, calling Encarna’s nightly show while frying small pies to talk about her two sons and their military service in
Móstoles Móstoles () is a municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. With over 200,000 inhabitants, it is the region's second most populated municipality after Madrid. Móstoles was a small town for a long time, but expanded rapidly in the ...
, a suburban town near Madrid. The sketch evolved into complete confusion when the lady, who is never seen on stage, mixed up all the details of her conversation and even said that she was frying the two sons and that Móstoles was on fire. The sketch basically ridiculed working class women in trouble to make their point in the short span of the phone call, the so-called ' marujas' in Spain, who made up much of Encarna’s audience. The problem came a few years afterwards when the subject of ridicule was not the audience but Encarna herself and her close friend, famous folk singer
Isabel Pantoja María Isabel Pantoja Martín (; born August 2, 1956) is a Spanish singer. She was born in the Triana district of Seville, Spain. She has released more than a dozen albums throughout a career spanning many decades, mostly of '' copla'' genre, ...
. In the new sketch, one of many in their show, Martes y Trece seemed to suggest, though in a very unclear way, an intimate relation between the two women. From then on Encarna’s comments towards the comedians turned into periods of silence and others of harsh criticism. Over the last year, a new crop of gossip and reality TV shows dealing with exposing all kinds of scandals led by '
Aquí hay tomate ''Aquí hay tomate'' was a popular Spanish television program produced by Salta and issued by the chain Telecinco. It premiered on March 24, 2003, broadcasting Monday to Friday afternoon, the final broadcast was February 1, 2008. Format ''Aquí h ...
' (There’s tomato here) a Spanish TV equivalent to
National Enquirer The ''National Enquirer'' is an American tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1926, the newspaper has undergone a number of changes over the years. The ''National Enquirer'' openly acknowledges that it pays sources for tips, a common practice in tabl ...
-meets-
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, have sporadically returned to Encarna's private life with information by a former reporter of her shows and some from the 'bunch' she talked about in her last message. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Encarna 1935 births 1996 deaths Spanish television presenters Spanish women television presenters Spanish television talk show hosts People from the Province of Almería Deaths from lung cancer in Spain