Genaro Rodríguez left Galicia, where he grew up, at the age of sixteen. He was one of millions of Spaniards who came to Switzerland in search of a better life in the 1960s and 1970s. He now lives in Bern.
This content was published on
1 minute
I lead the Spanish-language team at SWI swissinfo.ch, which involves ensuring the quality of our publications and making them understandable for Spanish-speaking people from more than 20 countries. I'm also part of a team of journalists specialising in foreign affairs. Explaining current events and its relations with Switzerland is an essential part of my task.
Senior journalist with over 30 years of experience in investigative journalism, broadcasting, multimedia content production and social media distribution.
As a photo editor I am responsible for the editorial use of photography at SWI swissinfo.ch and our collaborations with photographers. When the opportunity arises, I take a camera and accompany one of our journalists.
I trained as a photographer in Zürich and began working as a photojournalist in 1989. I was a founder of the Swiss photographers' agency Lookat Photos in 1990. A two-time World Press Award winner, I have also been awarded several Swiss national scholarships. My work has been widely exhibited and it is represented in various collections.
Genaro left school at the age of 12 to avoid more beatings from his teacher in the village of Fornelos near La Coruña. Four years later the young boy, trained as a builder, decided to follow a friend’s suggestion: “Go to Switzerland. There is work there which is well paid and a different world which is better.”
His humiliation at school prevented him from ever going back into a classroom. But Genaro managed to teach himself German. He later trained as a construction manager by taking a distance learning scheme.
(Thomas Kern, Daniel Wihler and Patricia Islas, swissinfo.ch)
Popular Stories
More
Life & Aging
Zurich: how the world capital of housing shortages is tackling the problem
Is your place of origin, your Heimatort, important to you?
Every Swiss citizen has a Heimatort, a place of origin, but many have never visited theirs. What’s your relationship with your Heimatort? What does it mean to you?
In Switzerland more people are being referred to electrical therapies or psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Are there similar approaches where you live?
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Iberian emigrants hope to find land of plenty
This content was published on
In Spain, one in two young people is jobless and, for the first time since 1990, the number of people emigrating in 2011 is higher than those immigrating. After an economic boom at the beginning of the century, Spain and Portugal slid into a deep crisis in 2008 which has seen unemployment rise to 22.9…
This content was published on
A new book, Galicians in Switzerland, shows the lives of Spanish immigrants who have traded the northwestern region of Galicia for Switzerland over the past 50 years. In doing so, they escaped poverty as well as the Spanish dictatorship. (All photos from the collection of Xurxo Martinez Crespo)
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.