(By Pablo Burgués)

Hello, I am Labi Champion and if there is a phrase that defines me, it is: those who know me would die with me and those who do not know me are badmouthing about me. But as my father said: "Hey little boy, make people be jealous to you and do not give pity".

Who was Labi Champion before arriving in Ibiza? Just Labi or Juan Mesa Guerrero, my real name. I was born in a small town in the province of Almería called Huercal-Overa. I am the oldest of 12 brothers and in our house there were always many needs, real one needs, eating needs because we didn't get enought to get economic needs. When I turned 13 my parents sent me to Ibiza to my uncles's house who welcomed me. I soon found a job in a restaurant kitchen and I changed my studies to peel onions and potatoes. So you can say that I am half illiterate, but I have 5 career of life and hence, although I can write "otel" without "h" be sure that when I go to one I always sleep in the best room of all.

You arrived on the island at the end of the 60s, in the middle of the hippie explosion. Did you have your "long hair, peace and love" time? I was never a hippie but I did many "business" with them. I remember that in 1975 I was working in a hotel in Es Canar and in that year the Wednesday Market of Punta Arabí was inaugurated. That really was a hippie market, not like the ones that look like El Corte Inglés now. The stands were made with wooden boards and that these people did not have to carry every week all those woods so I offered to hide them in the forest in exchange for a tip. I've always been a self-started.

How does the legend of Labi Champion begin? I spent many years working at the airport in Ibiza as a trunk (I do not say the company because I vomit). I worked for them for 24 years in which I did not have any time off sick and the first time I got one they fired me. It was a dirty trick but thanks to that work I met the person who would change my life: José Antonio Camacho. He opened to me all the doors of the football world and I have keep all of them open.

And so, from day to night you went from being a trunk to become one of the most famous public relations in Ibiza. A kind of "Mr. Wolf" who is in charge of getting everything the football players and other VIPs who visit this island needs. What names can we find in your phone book?. Marc Ostarcevic (Norma Duval's ex-husband) was the very first who call me Labi Champion, because he said all my friends were Champion League people. So in my agenda there are many bullfighters, singers, footballers, journalist ... But I also know many "Muebles López" people, ordinary men and women like me. I love so many people that my cheek hurts.

Let's see that the song “Un millón de amigos” by Roberto Carlos is too small for you. Who do you have left to know? To the woman who marries my son and makes me grandfather at once.

There is a phrase by which you are known internationally: "To the cinema that rains" What the hell does that mean? I am a very easy-going guy but very complicated to dominate, so when something does not interest me, I say "To the cinema that rains", which basically means that what you are telling me i do not give a damn.

Imagine that they give you one of those huge billboards that are at the exit of the airport and are the first thing that tourists see when they arrive in Ibiza. What would you put in it? I always say that I have three children: my real son, the Discotheque Keeper and the Malibu Beach Club. So on that fence I would put a picture of my son, which is the light of my life and what I love most in this world, and behind him Malibú and Keeper and the phrase "Be happy".

What character would you like me to interview next month? To Abel Matutes, because he is a great friend of mine and what he has achieved with Usuahia is Top plus VAT.

Anything else you want to say to finish? Yes, "to the cinema that rains".

 

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