Ricardo Urgell and the Pachá nights he went to Carmen Polo

Ricardo Urgell has been everything in the night of Madrid, Ibiza, Sitges where he set up his first Pachá with cherries as his house brand. He sold the group for 290 million in 2017. A decision he continues to regret, although it was agreed with his children.

The only one who has followed in his footsteps is Iría, in charge of Lío, the emblematic place in Ibiza. Great characters passed through his records like the Rolling, Bob Dylan, Grace Jones and Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth.

Unlike the “influencers” and the new rich, then they did not ask for reservations. With a sense of humor he explains that “that is what the mataos ask for”. He doesn’t like the way Barcelona is, and even less its mayor.

He considers that Madrid, which was a province with respect to all those who moved in Barcelona until a few years ago, “is in full swing.” The death of his great friend Ángel Nieto was one of the hardest blows of his life. “I am preparing his statue with a motorcycle and everything so that they can place it in a place important of Ibiza“.

The most attractive time in all aspects, both recreational, cultural and political. It turns out that Madrid is now bursting, why not go back to those years where people were happy.

He was a pioneer opening the Pachá in Sitges, in Ibiza, in Madrid. King Felipe VI was one of the fixtures at the nightclub.

He, the Infantas and the cousins ​​came. Carmen Polo was also in Pachá. This is scoop.

Cast? It surprises me…

One day he appeared there. I don’t remember what was organized that night, but it turned up and we were all checked. We are talking about a time when the lady was old. He arrived and stayed for a few hours.

Why haven’t you decided to write your memoirs?

I have had offers, but for now I am not considering it. What they have proposed to me is to make a documentary where images of the early years will appear, photos with well-known people, anecdotes, stories. More than five decades opening stores in many cities.

He sold Pachá in 2017 for three hundred million euros …

It’s something I’ve regretted many times. I remember that April 7 as a sad day. I had to mourn. One of the most important things I know now is that the best pay is not money, but success.

And the name of Pachá?

It was my wife’s choice. Pachá was a very suggestive name and besides, he told me that I had to live like a pasha. At that time there were only “boites”.

Why the night?

It was the fifties and I had a girlfriend in Paris that I was going to see. I got on my six hundred. At night he would take me to trendy places like Regines, Maxim, Le Castell … and I thought, why not open something similar in Spain? I was spending the summer in Sitges and decided that it was the perfect place to open a “boite”. And I did it in 1966 and it became a hit. Later, I opened Madrid and Ibiza.

He was the architect of the night. He had many franchises of his business, which was internationally known.

When they talk to me about luck, I say that I was in the right place at the right time.

In those years when the so-called “gauche divine” were his clients.

My clients and my friends. They were Terenci and Ana María Moix, Ricardo Bofill and Serena Vergara, Rosa Regas, Oscar Tusquets, Serrat, Oriol Maspons, Teresa Gimpera… Barcelona was the best.

And what has remained of that cosmopolitan Barcelona?

They have loaded it. Now it is provincial. There is a mayor who has destroyed my city.

When he arrived in Ibiza there was not much life

None. There were four hippies and four hanging. Later, people with a lot of money began to come, international figures because it was a heavenly place. My album featured Princess Margaret of England, the Rolling, Alain Delon, Dylan….

Did they ask for extravagant things?

Well no. There were no nouveau riche. Those with money did not show off. Now it is to see who has it bigger: the house, the boat.

He has three children, do any of them follow in his footsteps?

Just Iria. He is in charge of “El Lío Ibiza” and we are preparing another opening in Formentera. The woman works better than the man. They are much more practical and effective.

The death of Ángel Nieto was a tragedy for everyone …

He was my friend, my brother. We are preparing a statue of him with his motorcycle and everything to place it here in Ibiza. I was the one who gave it 12 plus one. It is irreplaceable.