David, the grandson that Gento never recognized and who has won the battle: "I feel anger"

This past January 18, the world of football was in mourning at the news of the death of Paco Gento at the age of 88, a legendary Real Madrid player and one of its most successful stars.

Two years ago, Paquita España, a 61-year-old woman living in Málaga who works as a guard in a public body, filed a paternity suit against Gento. She assures that she always knew that her mother and her soccer player had had a relationship as a result of which she was born. Gento never acknowledged this fact and never wanted to meet her.

On three occasions, the judge, who was presented with compelling evidence, such as a DNA test whose result was 99.9% compatible, required Gento's presence in court. He never went to court. As Paquita España's lawyer, Fernando Osuna, explained to this medium, in similar cases, article 304 of the LEC is put into operation, which ensures that the lack of testimony is equivalent to confession or acceptance of the facts, as it happened.

The sentence was favorable to Paquita España in the first instance and Gento appealed. The final ruling has just come to light just a few hours after the footballer's death and is favorable to the plaintiffs.

Paquita España and her family spent their lives waiting for justice to prove them right and wanting to provoke a reaction in the athlete that never existed before. Now, after the death of Gento, the latter will no longer be possible. Unfortunately, his death occurred just two days before the daughter he never wanted to acknowledge received the final sentence recognizing the ex-soccer player's paternity.

From Vanitatis we have contacted David, son of Paquita España, who, like his mother, is delighted that justice has recognized that his mother is the daughter of Paco Gento and that, therefore, he is a grandson . "I feel immense joy knowing that everything has been favorable for us and that the truth has come to light. I am a person who likes the truth, even if it hurts," he confesses to us.

Her joy is mixed with sadness: "We would have liked privacy at all times and for everything to stay within the family. I am also very sorry that my mother has never been able to be face to face with her father in 62 years."

In the answers that David gives us in the following interview, he also sends a forceful message to Real Madrid after this path that "it has not been easy at all before a person surrounded by institutions like this club, with great power".

QUESTION: How was the love story of your grandmother and Gento? When did they meet and how long did their relationship last?

ANSWER: My grandmother was a well-known dancer who worked in clubs in Madrid at night. My grandfather frequented those places and that's how they met. Some media have published that they were together for five years. Others say six. The reality is that they were together for about eight years and they didn't get married because at that time Real Madrid didn't want the players to be married. As a result of this relationship, my mother was born. My grandfather was a womanizer and my grandmother left him because she did not want to put up with being cheated on. My grandmother was very much in love with him, in fact she was never with another man again. But at that moment she got angry with him and separated. He didn't let me see his daughter. When, over time, my grandmother wanted to fix it and thought that her daughter had the right to have a recognized father, it was already too late. My grandfather and Real Madrid always wanted to cover up the story that he had had a daughter whom he had not wanted to acknowledge. My grandfather has always had the means to take responsibility for his daughter. If you're not going to take responsibility for a child, don't have it. If you are a parent, you have to take responsibility.

Q: How many years of judicial struggle have there been?

A: I was the one who convinced my mother to file a complaint. She never wanted to, because when she was young she tried to track down her father. She always wanted to have contact with him before he died. She was his firstborn daughter and he knew it. My mother thought that the meeting would be possible. But the woman who was by my grandfather's side always rejected any kind of call from my mother to my grandfather. Jealousy, selfishness... many things have come in the way of my mother never being able to have contact with her father. My mother has had a very hard time because of this. I've seen her have a bad time. I think that she and we could have led another life. We have spent three years, more or less, in judicial struggle. We won the trial in the first instance. My grandfather did not appear despite the judge's request on three occasions. How was he going to present himself if he knew that as soon as they did the DNA test, the result would be positive?

Q: There was irrefutable proof: the DNA obtained by a private detective.

A: That's it. We have the proof of Gento himself and one of his sons. The two confirm that Gento's son is my mother's brother and that Gento is his father, as the final sentence has now ruled. Our lawyer, Fernando Osuna, is a marvelous lawyer and person. It has helped us a lot to achieve all this.

Q: Even with this victory, there are bittersweet feelings...

A: Yes. I feel anger. I would not have liked to have resorted to the media. I would have liked to fix this privately. Also, my mother doesn't like media exposure. Every time he has had to speak in a medium he has had a really bad time. She also doesn't like people to recognize her on the street. But the truth has a way and the truth, in the end, has come out.

Q: How did you feel about Gento's death, just now that everything has been resolved?

R: My mother felt sadness because despite the fact that she has never had any dealings with him and that he has always rejected her, she did hope that, knowing Gento that she was his daughter, she would have remorse before dying and I would contact her. My mother never wished him harm. Quite the opposite. I just wanted to deal with him. I have never wished him anything bad either. It was my grandfather… My mother didn't even want to bear the Gento surname.

Q: But you dreamed that the same thing that happened to the son of Carlos Baute would happen to you…

A: Yes, because that's the right thing to do. It is what has to happen. It would have to happen, moreover, not because justice intervenes. It would have to happen because it comes out of the father, because it is your son. It is good that Baute recognizes his son, even if it was because the law has intervened. But the truth is that it would have to come from the father himself, from the heart, because one has to be responsible for his children.

Q: How is your life? Where do you live and what do you do?

A: My mother was born in Madrid, but grew up in Malaga with my grandmother's parents. More or less, thank God, they have always been fine. My mother has grown up in a normal environment and has had a normal life, but a very humble one, really. He has been working as a janitor for the Junta de Andalucía for nearly 18 years. I dedicate myself to smoothing paint in homes, here in Malaga, as a freelancer.

Q: With the final ruling in your favour, do you have any hope that the other children of Gento will change their behavior and maintain some kind of contact?

A: I don't think Gento's wife wants that. She was always jealous of my grandmother and she doesn't want any kind of relationship with my mother. Actually, what I have always wanted the most is for the truth to come out because I have seen that my mother has had a very bad time. I think that Gento's wife had a lot of influence and I want to think that my grandfather died with a thorn in his head for not having had a few words with my mother.

Q: The Real Madrid board of directors sent a statement of condolence to Gento's wife, Mari Luz, to their sons, Francisco and Julio, to the granddaughters Aitana and Candela, as well as to colleagues, friends and family.

A: My father knew very well that my mother was his daughter. He has made me angry that Real Madrid has not mentioned us in their condolences. Florentino Pérez also knew very well that my mother is the daughter of Gento. The Santiago Bernabéu himself knew my grandmother personally because she was my grandfather's wife, even though they were not married. Journalists of the time also knew about the relationship. It seems unfair to me. My mother was the first daughter of Gento. He has three more grandchildren apart from those that Real Madrid have mentioned in their condolences. I don't like that they always try to hide the truth, but we have enough evidence for the truth to have finally come to light. Now that the sentence proves us right, I want to send a message to the directors of the club. I would like to make it clear that we are the first family that my grandfather, Francisco Gento, had. That Gento has not only two children, but three and that the firstborn is my mother, who is also the only daughter he has ever had.

Q: Have you needed any kind of psychological help over the years?

A: My mother has never asked for this kind of help because she's brave, but someone else without my mother's character could have had a hard time. My mother has never been in treatment but I think that she could use it for all that she has on top of her. He has grown up without his father and without his mother. My grandmother was an artist and she had to leave her daughter with her parents because she had to work and traveled a lot. And, on the other hand, he has spent his whole life feeling his father's rejection. Sometimes the grudge makes her cry. I feel sorry. She has always been working and we have always helped her. But she could have had a better life, like the one her other children have.

Q: Now you can fight for the inheritance that would correspond to you.

A: Little by little.

Q: David versus Goliath. David has won.

A: That's my name.