Anne or Ana? Paris' Spanish-born deputy mayor says it doesn't matter

Little Ana was a top student. But she will never forget the day, when she was eight or nine, that a teacher told her classmates: "Come on, girls, you're not going to let the Spaniards be top of the class, are you?"

France was not overly racist back then. It had its dark side, but policies predominantly favored integration. In fact, that bright little girl went far. She sat public examinations, was a labor inspector, and later went into politics. Today, she is deputy mayor of Paris, answering to the Socialist Bertrand Delanoë.

But Ana - or Anne - does not forget her origins in Antequera (Málaga), the village that her father left on two occasions. The first time it was with her grandfather, a Spanish Republican who fled after being accused of killing a landowner at the onset of the Civil War. The second time, it was for economic reasons: work at the Cádiz shipyard did not bring home enough money. Besides, her father had become familiar with France's secular, republican school system as a child, which was very different from the school run by the nuns back home, where he was dubbed hijo de rojo (son of a communist).

"You're born in one place and go where life takes you. Paris is great for that"

"My parents arrived with no French and not knowing what to expect. It's a leap"

"In Socialist circles they said we'd never win; Paris was seen as too rightwing"

Her father did not want his daughters to go through the same kind of ordeal, so they emigrated to Lyon when she was two. Anne later moved to Paris, the city she always wanted to live in, and for a decade now she has helped transform it through her work at City Hall.

Question. Anne or Ana?

Answer. Both. I did not choose to use the French form of my name - they did that at school. Outside the house people called me Anne, without consulting with me, and that's the way it remained in France. My family, my friends and my colleagues call me Ana.

Q. You were probably made to choose plenty of times, French or Spanish. One wonders: why do you need to be from anywhere in particular?

A. Exactly. You're born in one place and settle down where life takes you. Paris is an extraordinary city for that. Sacha Guitry used to say: "Being a Parisian is not being born in Paris, but being born again here."

Q. What do you remember about moving to France?

A. Very little, it's a blur. I remember a latent fear. Later I thought about it, about my parents, coming here at their age... When I was the same age they were when they moved here, I wondered: if I had to gather up the children and leave my country, I don't know what I would have done. Without speaking the language or knowing what you're going to find. It's a leap. [...] Look at things today. That's why I don't understand certain attitudes and much less certain policies. Sarkozy's decisions to deport families with small children is something I don't understand. I've been very active against that. [...] I've always told those families that the decision to leave their country was not a voluntary thing. They are brave, risky decisions you make when there is no way out on the other side. They should be proud of that, not ashamed of it.

Q. And when were you born again in Paris?

A. I grew up in Lyon and arrived here at age 24. I had completed my work inspector studies and came to the Paris region. But I always dreamed of living in the capital. To me, it was a legendary city. [...] When I arrived I told myself: "I'm finally here!"

Q. And now you are directly intervening in the city's transformation.

A. I've been deputy mayor for 10 years now. The job has changed: now I am in charge of city planning and architecture. I remember when I was not working in politics and I discovered Paris on foot, opening doors, looking around. I had a passion for the city. To be able to work on its transformation is a privilege.

Q. And what has changed since you got here?

A. I think we are promoting an active role for citizens. Parisians were reluctant to participate, they were not very aware of their rights or of existing services. [...] The city underwent transformations, but more out of economic impulses than political decisions.

Q. So until your team got there, things didn't move?

A. There wasn't much citizen participation. Opinions originating outside of politics were hardly taken into account. We had a desire to change this political culture. The first thing we established was neighborhood councils, which did not exist.

Q. But that must have been the fault of the entire political class over the years. Mitterrand used the city from his presidency as a symbol of 'grandeur...'

A. True. But Bertrand Delanoë, the mayor, changed that with his attitude. In Socialist national power circles they thought we would never win City Hall. They said this was a rightwing city and that it would not change.

Q. That sounds familiar. Your Socialist colleagues in Spain have the same attitude.

A. Yes, it's a matter of intuition. Bertrand noticed movements in the associations, among economic and neighborhood leaders. It also had to do with a sociological change, with a hunch. First we won six out of 20 districts. [...] There were condescending comments in the press: "How can he hope to win being what he is?"

Q. Meaning what? His homosexuality?

A. No, that was not a problem. He never concealed it; he thought it was better to have it known from the beginning. They were referring more to his low political status, since he was not a minister and had never held important positions. They saw him as a secondary player. Even Jack Lang ran for the post against him, in primaries. But Bertrand won with quite a lead. We won with him.

Q. So, in your political beginnings, you jumped on the bandwagon of a hypothetical loser.

A. Yes, yes. But I thought he was going to win, out of faith and intuition. I was a local resident with the usual hassles - transportation, work, housing...

Q. Immigration issues were used very skillfully by the right during the last campaign, and the Socialists fell.

A. This country, being what it is and having fomented principles inherited from the French Revolution, still has that dark side. The shadow of Dreyfuss and Vichy. [...] This is a very complex country. People are passionate about politics. We don't know what it is to be depoliticized. History has had its dark areas. We've cut off the heads of kings.

Q. Oh, so...

A. Yes, well, I'm a republican through and through, but don't let anybody cut off Juan Carlos' head, okay?