Ana Belén: "Some men are annoyed and terrified by having to share power with women."

She arrives wrapped in a vaporous white dress, with the smile of someone who has known how to outrun time and a brand-new album under her arm— I Come with New Eyes —that resets her perspective on the world. Ana Belén (Madrid, 74) says the secret is to remain curious and approach life with a certain ingenuity.

There are many doomsayers announcing a cultural decline. Do you think we're going backward?

What I believe is that we must have memory, and that it is now being lost in many cases. I know, for example, what Franco's regime meant because I suffered it firsthand. And, of course, the speeches that downplay the dictatorship, those people who say, "Hey, things weren't so bad under Franco," make my blood run cold. I wonder how it's possible to hear things like that at this point. And said without shame or restraint.

You recently warned against a wave of right-wing extremism. To what extent is there a risk of flooding?

Well, just look at the international tsunami. When a country as large as the US suddenly has an open roadmap like the one we're seeing, coupled with the strong advance of the far right in Europe... It's all very disturbing.

What do you attribute this trend to?

I don't know if we in Europe have been able to remember our past. If there hasn't been a kind of reluctance to defend certain achievements... I mean, how is it possible that forces that deny the genocide are triumphing in Germany? And now we're seeing what's happening in Palestine... Memory is very necessary, I insist.

Speaking of memory, you have been a figure with a long political career and linked to a Transition that is being questioned today.

I don't sanctify the Transition; I think we did what we could, considering where we came from. What I'm clear about is that democracy didn't come about because certain parties decided it, but because many people took to the streets and forced change. It didn't come from the top down. It was a mobilization effort that came from the people on the street... We should teach the new generations what that was all about.

Populism is now targeting leftist fishing grounds like the working-class vote. What went wrong?

This is happening all over the world: when people feel their basic interests aren't represented, they go to the other extreme. What amazes me is this temptation to reclaim a past that is so well documented, of which we have so many terrible images.

Perhaps it's because even images are mistrusted these days, especially in the age of artificial intelligence.

The technological revolution has brought fantastic advances, but it all depends on how they're used. In my field, for example, there are creators who are starting to lose a lot of their talents with artificial intelligence. I don't write songs or scripts, but many people in the industry are affected. And it's easy to spot songs created with AI.

As?

It is very noticeable.

And what can be done?

You can't put a stop to it, of course, but you can try to educate people on how to use it. Stopping it is like trying to put a stop to a field, and I'm not at all against technology. It's another matter if people don't use it much.

Not even social media?

Just enough for work. But I don't take pictures with paella. I don't understand that, really. Although I'm fine with it as long as it's handled reasonably. The problem is how do you ask a teenager to handle social media well? Parents have a very difficult time these days.

Your new album talks a lot about women. What do you think about criticisms of feminism for going "too far" or being too "rough"?

Only terrified men say those things.

About what?

I'm not generalizing, but a portion of these men, who have been masters, lords, and owners of everything that moved, don't accept that this is a pie they have to share. There's no other way; times have changed, and it's unstoppable. That makes them nervous. And I tell them, let's see, we're not going to remove you from your position (as you've done throughout your entire existence). If you've done and undone as you've seen fit... Don't worry, nothing's wrong.

What did you think of the #metoo phenomenon?

Very necessary. Because many women have suffered, feeling very alone in these situations, with very little support or understanding. And when one of them started speaking up, how many left?

Especially in the world of entertainment.

In all of them. In the movies, just like in an appliance store, where a boss grabs your ass as you walk past a refrigerator. Because it's a question of power, nothing more, nothing less. That's why it pisses off certain men so much. Because now it turns out we're going to share that power.

The album again includes songs written by Víctor Manuel. Your partner is a miracle of stability in a world of fluid love. How do dating apps look from that perspective, for example?

Well, that's great if they're an option for meeting people. Although it's a shame that sometimes it's the only one. And especially that there are no more "dances," which used to be called "dances," where you could go and hook up. I really like the in-person experience.