Menchu Álvarez del Valle

María del Carmen "Menchu" Álvarez del Valle (born 16 January 1928) is a Spanish radio journalist and paternal grandmother of the queen of Spain, Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano.

Menchu Álvarez del Valle
Born
María del Carmen Álvarez del Valle

(1928-01-16) 16 January 1928
Santander, Cantabria, Spain
OccupationJournalist
Years active1947–1990
Spouse(s)José Luis Ortiz Velasco (1949–2005)
Awards
  • Antena de Oro (1974)[1]
  • Antena de Oro for Professional Career (2004)
  • National Radio Award (2013)

Biography

Considered one of the most popular voices of Asturian radio, Menchu Álvarez del Valle has two sisters: Flora (born 1921) and María Sol, "Marisol del Valle" (born 1935), Doctor of the Complutense University of Madrid and also a radio journalist and audiovisual communication teacher. Her mother was named Plácida del Valle Arribas (1900–1993), and her father, Eulalio Álvarez de la Fuente (1897–1983), was a typographer and editor.

She was born in Santander, and has lived in Oviedo since age 16. She has worked in radio since she was very young, starting with Radio Asturias. In 1947 she joined Radio Oviedo (later REM), followed by La Voz del Principado, Radiocadena Española, and finally Radio Nacional de España. For 42 years she was a successful announcer, as well as creator of new radio shows such as Coser y cantar and Rumbo a la gloria. She retired in 1990. Throughout her career she received multiple awards.

Álvarez del Valle married Jose Luis Ortiz Velasco, a representative of Olivetti, in 1949.[2] They had a son Jesús José Ortiz Álvarez, and two daughters, Maria del Henar, a decorator by profession,[3] and Cristina, who worked as a governess in the Monastery of San Pedro de Villanueva and died in 2001.[4] Álvarez del Valle rose to national fame when Jesús José's daughter Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, also a journalist, announced her engagement to the Prince of Asturias (now King Felipe VI).

Jose Luis Ortiz Velasco died at the couple's home in Sardéu, Ribadesella, Asturias on 30 March 2005 at age 82.[2]

Menchu received the National Radio Award from the Spanish Academy of Radio Arts and Sciences on 13 February 2013. Her sister Marisol was also awarded at the same ceremony.[5][6]

References
  1. Verbo, Eduardo (14 February 2013). "Menchu Álvarez del Valle: 'Creo en la Justicia'" [Menchu Álvarez del Valle: 'I Believe in Justice']. El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  2. Cuartas, Javier (31 March 2005). "José Luis Ortiz, abuelo paterno de la princesa de Asturias" [José Luis Ortiz, Paternal Grandfather of the Princess of Asturias]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  3. Muñiz, Alfredo (10 November 2008). "La baronesa Thyssen y la 'tita' Henar, de mariscada" [Baroness Thyssen and the 'Tita' Henar, With Seafood]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  4. Cuartas, Javier; Barroso, F. Javier (8 November 2003). "La vuelta a los orígenes de la familia Ortiz" [Return to the Origins of the Ortiz Family]. El País (in Spanish). Oviedo/Madrid. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  5. Rojo, Miguel (7 February 2013). "Menchu y su hermana, premiadas por su carrera" [Menchu and Her Sister, Rewarded For Their Career]. El Comercio (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  6. "Menchu Álvarez del Valle, abuela de la princesa Letizia, galardonada con el Premio Nacional de Radio" [Menchu Álvarez del Valle, Grandmother of Princess Letizia, Wins the National Radio Award]. ¡Hola! (in Spanish). 6 February 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
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