The following interview was conducted in 2007 by journalist Herme Cerezo for the cultural magazine Siglo XXI. It is one of the most complete documents about Rafael Solaz Albert that existed on the original rafaelsolaz.com website, and has been recovered and preserved in this archive.
"I am a detective of the past. I search in archives, in newspaper libraries, in traces that others don't want or don't know how to find. Valencia has a history that is not in the official books, and I have dedicated myself to finding it."
— Rafael Solaz Albert, 2007 interviewOn collecting
Solaz describes his activity not as mere collecting but as a form of active preservation of Valencian historical memory. For him, every book acquired, every document rescued from oblivion, is a fragment of collective identity that would otherwise disappear.
On hidden Valencia
His interest in "hidden" Valencia —the Valencia of the underworld, the satirical press, the world of fallas and popular traditions— has made him the reference researcher on aspects of Valencian history that official historiography tends to ignore.
Originally published in
Siglo XXI Magazine · 2007 · Interviewer: Herme Cerezo. Recovered from the rafaelsolaz.com historical archive