The Hoy por Hoy team wanted to pay tribute to Àngels Barceló this Monday after her departure from Cadena SER was announced, a stage she will close after more than two decades linked to the station. The journalist leaves behind seven seasons at the helm of the most listened-to morning program on Spanish radio, where she has achieved historic audience figures.
One of the most emotional moments was experienced during the Mapa de Sonidos segment, the section that Àngels Barceló and José Luis Sastre share every morning. There, the program’s deputy director wanted to dedicate some words of recognition to the journalist on behalf of the entire team. With the close and conspiratorial tone that characterizes his interventions, Sastre confessed that since the news became public he felt that “something had to be said,” although he was clear that “it had to be said here on the radio.” “Because this is about sharing things with the listeners,” he added.
During his speech, Sastre openly acknowledged the emotional impact the news has had on those who work alongside Barceló. “We, well that’s the truth, we are sad, we are not well, maybe they are noticing it,” he said before conveying the main message he wanted to share with the listeners and his colleague: “We are proud of what we have done and what we have continued doing with you.”
The journalist also highlighted the work environment and journalistic philosophy that, according to him, Àngels Barceló has promoted within the program. “We are very proud of our people, who are the people of SER; of you, who have given us room and trust so that each of us could grow and find our place and of having done,” he pointed out.
He then added “and of continuing to make a program that we love and that I believe we achieve, a choral, demanding, respectful, empathetic, plural program that applies the best journalism, which is the one you teach us, the one you demand from us and which, on the other hand, is the unmistakable hallmark of this house, which is SER.”
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In addition to the professional recognition, Sastre recalled some of the moments shared during these years in the morning slot. He remembered the promise they made when they left Hora 25 to take on the early mornings of Hoy por Hoy: “We said we were going to laugh when we got to the early morning, when we got to this very bad time slot.” An idea that Àngels confirmed with laughter and that he concluded by assuring: “And we are going to keep doing it.”
After his colleague’s words, Àngels Barceló wanted to respond by thanking the support received both inside and outside the station. The journalist had words for the current program team, for those who were part of it in other stages, and also for all the SER workers spread across Spain. She also highlighted the affection received from the audience over the weekend, assuring that “because the shows of affection this weekend have overwhelmed me.”
The communicator also reflected on the importance of collective work and camaraderie within the profession. “They have shown me that, in the end, when one works by helping, that is, works in favor, things turn out much better,” she said. Finally, Barceló closed the moment naturally and without losing the humor that marked the entire conversation. “And well, we will have to keep going,” she concluded, although she did not miss the opportunity to reproach, in a playful tone, that José Luis Sastre had not played Dancing Queen at any point during the program.
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