Alonso breaks his silence on his personal life

Ever since he signed with the Ferrari team, Fernando Alonso has been enjoying a professional stability that not even a lack of titles has been able to shake. The same cannot be said for his private life, however. After moving back to his native Asturias in the summer following a five-year stay in Switzerland, the 30-year-old Formula 1 pilot has announced that he and his wife, singer Raquel del Rosario, are separating.

Alonso, whose life on the circuit is the subject of close scrutiny, has tried to build a virtual bunker around his personal life. Not a single indiscretion ever comes out of his family members or a very small number of close, lifelong friends. If anyone strays from the rule, he or she is immediately evicted from Alonso's immediate circle of confidantes.

The racer has always been famously private about his personal life

Rosario, 29, is the singer for Asturian band El Sueño de Morfeo

The story of his relationship with Raquel del Rosario, 29, the singer for the Asturian band El Sueño de Morfeo, is a good example of Alonso's obsession with privacy. When the pilot won his first Formula 1 world championship, a radio program called El larguero set up a special tribute program, and Alonso specifically requested that El Sueño de Morfeo perform on it. He liked their music, and apparently something else, too.

It was November 2005 and the two young people began a relationship that had some press coverage but remained largely away from the limelight. Despite their best efforts to keep their wedding plans a secret, news broke out that they had rented out the distinguished Palace Conde de Toreno in a remote Asturian hamlet called Malleza to celebrate the banquet. This prompted a last-minute change of plans, and the entire ceremony, including the religious rites, was held at Alonso's parents' house, in the outskirts of Oviedo, after obtaining special permission from the archbishop of Oviedo in view of "the unique circumstances of media pressure."

The couple spent their honeymoon in the Maldives and invited a small group of friends along. These were told to simply show up at the airport with a suitcase and some summer clothes, a new attempt at avoiding persecution by the paparazzi.

After that, both the newlyweds and their families refused to confirm that the wedding had taken place at all. An entire year went by before official testimony was obtained through the priest of Colloto, José Manuel Pidal, who is in charge of the parish where the Alonso family lives. Pidal put an end to the speculation in 2007, yet it was not until 2008 that Del Rosario ratified it in an interview.

Five years later, the pressure has let up and Alonso has decided to come out of his Swiss exile. But the only opportunity for the media to get close to the pilot in his homeland is limited to his official events with sponsors and charities - especially during the Christmas holidays. On December 23, as he does every year, Alonso participated in a charity race through the streets of Oviedo that is organized by his main sponsor, savings bank Cajastur. On Christmas Eve, he was scheduled to play soccer in a charity match between athletes and journalists to collect toys and food for needy children. The organizers of the event first invited Alonso when he was little more than a promising kart driver, and since then the match gets preferential treatment from a man who turns down innumerable other proposals.

Very few media outlets have been able to get close to him. One notable exception is the television program El hormiguero , hosted by Pablo Motos, of which Alonso is a devoted fan. The show's crazy trials gave Alonso a chance to truly release his competitive spirit - because the pilot likes to win at more things than racecar driving. His colleagues and rivals at the soccer matches know it well. So does the Asturian Olympic cycling champion Samuel Sánchez, his regular mate on bike rides across the region, which allow Alonso to train during his off months from the circuit.

"Asturias is where I recharge my batteries for the entire season," said Alonso in one of his rare statements about his private life. "I always miss having more time to be in my homeland with my family, to go out with friends, to ride my bike and to enjoy the summer or the Christmas holidays."

On another occasion, he admitted that he does not have many friends, and that his regular life in Asturias is much like anyone else's. "I'm more normal than people would like me to be."