In 2022, the City Council of Cadiz distinguished as Adopted Daughter Teresa Torres MorgadoBut this Sevillian woman had long been an inseparable part of the cultural life of Cádiz. Both in her role as a designer, in which she worked with big names in the flamenco, as in his capacity as regent of Café de LevanteTere, one of the epicenters of poetry and art in the city, as she was known to everyone, was one of those strange gifts that luck reserves for us to make our lives better.
Born on January 2, 1950 in the Alameda district of Seville, right next to the academy of RealitoHe moved with his mother and sister to that Tardón where promising talents were beginning to emerge, such as Isabel Pantoja o ChiqueteTeresa was the cattle rancher's daughter. She lived on Jacinto Benavente Street, and it was on this street that she would grow up. Carlos NunezIn time, she was the Francoist mayor of Tarifa, and had a relationship with a woman who sewed in his house, but due to class differences, she was never able to formalize it. At 13, Tere was orphaned when her father died, and at 15 when her mother lost her, leaving her alone and in charge of a sister with a disability. These difficult times undoubtedly shaped her personality, always energetic, vibrant, and free-spirited.
In 1976 she arrived in Cádiz with her first life partner, the footballer from Pilas. José Catalán, signed by the local team recently promoted to the First Division, and with whom he would have his only daughter, MartaIn the city of Cádiz, it opened The Wardrobe, a fashion store that was a reference for many years, and later, in 1992, the Café de Levante, a place on the central Rosario street through which, in the following decades, the finest of Andalusian arts and letters would parade.
Associated with the designer Javier Cosano, opened a new stage with the workshop Torres & Cosano, very oriented towards the flamencoThe soundtrack of her childhood and the music that captivated her. Among her clients was the flamenco dancer from the islands. Sara Baras, for whom he created the costumes for several shows and for the 2002 Carnival Proclamation, Mariana Cornejo, Ana Salazar, Eduardo Guerrero, David PaloMar and many others. He maintained a close friendship with figures such as Rocío Jurado, Rancapino o Chano Lobato, who adored her and made her laugh with his witty remarks.
"It showcased his love of color and movement, and the idea that dressing is not just a way to cover the body, but to express what we carry inside beyond the skin. A code that doesn't hide us, but reveals us in our best version."
Married to the socialist politician Rafael RománTere, who after holding a seat in the Senate would become president of the Provincial Council of Cádiz between 1995 and 2003, combined the world of fabrics and threads with a formidable role as a catalyst for culture through her café. In the Levante region of the 90s and early 2000s, she presented Juan Jose Tellez –his best friend and best man– the first biography of Paco de LucíaThere we enjoyed memorable evenings together Fernando Quiñones o Caballero Bonald, we heard them singing in small groups Manuel Moneo and Rancapino Chico when I was barely two feet tall. And we toasted with all sorts of feathers, from Pablo García Baena a Felipe Benitez Reyes, Sweet Chacon a Almudena Grandes, Maruja torres a Carlos Edmundo de OryAs well as musicians like Javier Ruibal; filmmakers like Julio Diamante; visual artists such as Andrés Vázquez de Sola, Candi Garbarino, Carmen Bustamante o José Alberto López; photographers like Antonio Jesús Gutiérrez, Ángel Movellán, Rafa Marchante o KikiPeople from the theater like The Girls of Cadiz o Montse Torrent; of the carnival as Antonio Martínez Ares, Vera Luque, Monano, Selu García Cossío o García Argüez…And many, many anonymous people who found in the Café a home and a space for warm companionship and complicity.
One of the highlights of his career was undoubtedly the exhibition Power, in which, together with the photographer Beatriz Hidalgo She dressed great divas of flamenco , the Aunt Juana the Pipe-Wielding, Ana Salazar, Anabel Rivera, Esperanza Fernández, María Moreno, María Terremoto, Marina Heredia, Maui de Utrera, Mercedes de Córdoba, Olga Pericet, Pilar Ogalla, Rosario Toledo or Sara Baras herself. There she demonstrated her taste for color and movement, and the idea that dressing is not just a way of covering the body, but of expressing what we carry inside beyond the skin, a code that does not hide us, but reveals us in our best version.
When she was diagnosed with a terrible illness three years ago, Tere continued to teach life lessons through her strength, her joy, and her irrepressible will to live. It couldn't have been any other way: she had known adversity since childhood, but precisely for that reason, she knew that each day holds some good reason for happiness. Until the very end, she nurtured her passion for her granddaughter, Teresa, and, like her, frequented her café to support various events. Even when crossing the final threshold, she exuded class and coquetry, because she was convinced that one should leave as one has lived, in her case shining wherever she was..
This weekend has passed, but like stars that fade from the sky, its light will continue to comfort us for a long time, as long as it remains in our memory. ♦
