Mata Bookstore in Marbella: A Bookseller's Calling Among Newspapers and Marcial Lafuente

Generations of Marbella residents interested in the world of books grew up with rewarding visits, at least to behold the displays, to the legendary Librería Mata, the first bookstore in the city. It also represented the triumph of the bookselling vocation of its founder, Andrés Mata, known as 'Matita'. Andrés was a passionate advocate for all things cultural, although family circumstances prevented him from acquiring formal education. Orphaned from an early age, his mother ran a tobacco shop on Ancha Street, where he began to delve into the world of stationery. In 1937, following the entry of the Francoist army into Marbella, he rented a premises with living quarters on Enrique del Castillo Street, owned by the Galbeño family. There, he opened what would become the future bookstore that remained operational until November 2017. At its closing, his contribution to the culture of Marbella was officially recognized with the awarding of the city's medal. To start the business, he relied on financial help from Juan Moré, owner of a nearby gas station close to Mata's stationery shop. He began by renting comic books and popular novels, especially Westerns, written by Marcial Lafuente Estefanía and first published in the early forties. For decades, Librería Mata was the only bookstore in Marbella. Initially, there were very few titles and authors, until he even sold books in other languages at the suggestion of Cocteau, a regular visitor to the shop. But before the books, there were newspapers. He started with the headline of the newspaper España, the most important Spanish-language newspaper in northern Morocco, published in Tangier. The sale of this newspaper was crucial because, given its excellent reception, it encouraged Mata to distribute the ABC from Madrid. Don Andrés did not feel like a bookseller until his shelves began to hold authors who were already classics, such as Pío Baroja. Interestingly, the newspaper España from Tangier would later have a connection with Marbella. In the sixties (1967), it evolved into the Sol de España, which opened its editorial office and workshops in Marbella. It was located in the northern area of Valentuñana Street. At the entrance, there was a large sign with a drawing by Antonio Mingote, linked to the newspaper since the Tangier stage and connected to San Pedro Alcántara. Sol de España started under the direction of Salvador Reina Lozano (Salvador de la Reina), a journalist from Marbella, brother of Juan Carlos Reina, director of the union radio station Radio Marbella. Unfortunately, Salvador died in November 1968 in a traffic accident on the Cuesta de la Reina. Later, Federico Villagrán Bustillo would become the director, with Rafael de Loma Rodríguez as chief editor, who later became the director. De Loma would launch, in the mid-eighties, La Tribuna de Marbella, which had a brief run. The building housed the editorial office, the 'photogravure' room, and the printing press. Antonio Borrego Hernández also worked there, who was also the technical chief of Radio Marbella. Soon, Librería Mata offered all kinds of newspapers and books; a place visited by many personalities who passed through the city or spent long seasons here. Many anecdotes could illustrate the personality of 'Matita', reflected in his attire using suspenders and in his seriousness and demand for rigor in work. Alongside him, his wife, Rafaela Lara, said to be an extraordinary cook at the time, made Edgar Neville break the dietary rules prescribed by his doctors. Don Andrés had no duplicity and sometimes addressed customers with almost military discipline. His daughter (the historian and novelist Ana María Mata Lara) recounted an incident that needs no comment: on one occasion, the football player Alfredo Di Stéfano came to shop, followed by a crowd that, carried away by enthusiasm, broke one of the bookstore's showcases, to which Don Andrés did not hesitate to tell the player that he should pay for the damage. It seems that it was never made effective. After his death, his son, José Andrés Mata Lara, and his wife Leonor took over the bookstore, preserving and enhancing its prestige. She went from employee to owner, which is not without literary resonances. More than eight years have passed since the closure and there are still many readers who feel orphaned. It seems that it was always a bad time for bookstores and the sale of newspapers was a lifeline, but the reality is that the sale of newspapers and magazines has drastically declined in recent decades. Perhaps the bookselling vocation, the one that led 'Matita' to sharpen his wit, still exists, but it requires a dose of romanticism for which one must pay a price, and the role of sufferer is hardly attractive.