"Come to Basel, there's work here"

I come from a working-class family in Granada. At school, I still had to do the fascist salute and sing Franco's praises. My grandfather had fought against Franco. Although I was good at maths, I still had to go to work in the factory when I was 14.

With two suitcases to Switzerland

I was 16 when I met Carmen, who is still my great love today. Her father had already emigrated to Switzerland in the early 1970s to earn money in construction. "Come to Basel too, there's well-paid work here," he said. "But you have to get married first!"

Carmen and I got married in August 1983, when I was 22 years old. Two months later we boarded the train in Granada and three days later we arrived in Basel SBB. With two suitcases in hand.

Shared childcare

I never did an apprenticeship, but I did take the lorry test in the Spanish military. So I found a job as a chauffeur at Feldschlösschen, while Carmen found work at Basel University Hospital.

When our children were born in 1985 and 1987, my wife switched to Swiss Post so that she could work evening shifts. From then on, she looked after the children in the mornings and at lunchtime and I looked after them in the afternoons and evenings. Just like my wife, I cooked, changed nappies, did the washing up and sang bedtime songs. A modern man, you would say today.

The longing for home

Then we got homesick. Before the children started school, we moved back to Granada in 1992, where we now owned a house. But the return was sobering. I couldn't find a good job and Carmen struggled with the poor schools. We were now half Swiss and living in a different country. After a year and a half, we were back in Basel.

I no longer wanted to work as a drinks chauffeur because of the back pain. A friend of Carmen's was a nurse at Bethesda Hospital and told me that they were looking for cleaning staff. I was hired immediately. My first day at work fell on my 33rd birthday, and although I was brand new, I was given a shopping voucher for 50 francs. What a start!

From cleaner to jack of all trades

Back then, many deaconesses still worked at the hospital and we used to wipe the stairs with rags.

When ISS took over the maintenance cleaning in 1997, the work was modernised. There were new cleaning machines and clear work schedules. In addition, more and more work was added. About 15 years ago, the ISS property manager asked me if I would like to take over the internal mail service. Since then, I've been sorting the post every morning from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and distributing parcels to patients.

On Tuesday and Friday afternoons, I collect the medication for Bethesda Hospital from the central pharmacy at Basel University Hospital and distribute it to the wards. I also set up the auditorium, the restaurant and the meeting rooms for the various events - including the sound equipment. An information evening for pregnant women requires different seating in the auditorium than the Sunday church service. I appreciate this variety. And the exercise! I walk 10 to 15 kilometres every day.

Team spirit with paella

I am impressed by the work of my colleagues at the hospital. They deserve my utmost respect! I occasionally go out for a meal with Nuno Cruz and others from the ISS team after work. I've also cooked for them at home. I wonder what? Paella!

(Published in the ISS Insider Spring 2022)