The sovereign of 2022 takes stock of one of the shortest reigns in the history of the Carnival of Santa Cruz due to the unusual date of the celebration of the party last year. Only eight months has been the time that Ruth González Martín has been able to enjoy the scepter since last June she emerged as the winner in the first Election Gala of the Queen of Santa Cruz de Tenerife after the stoppage due to COVID. She was crowned with the fantasy Look at me by the designer Santi Castro, who once again won the queen’s scepter after nine years, and did so on behalf of the Añaza Carrefour Shopping Center. At the inaugural gala of the 2023 Carnival held last Friday in the surroundings of the Auditorio de Tenerife, and in which the city of New York was the protagonist, Ruth began the farewell to her reign. There, she paraded at the beginning of the gala, together with the singer Jadel, dressed in part of the fantasy that made her Queen. Before, she has reviewed these intense eight months in this interview with DIARIO DE AVISOS.
-Who is Ruth González beyond being the current queen of the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife?
“Ruth is a super humble girl, from the town, from Tacoronte, neither here nor there, student and worker, who went after a dream and achieved it. I currently work as a saleswoman, I have been dedicated to this sector for more than six years and I am studying law, I am heading towards being a future lawyer”.
Do you remember how you felt when you were crowned?
“Yes. Satisfaction, because that is not forgotten, full satisfaction and absolute happiness to fulfill what I wanted, which was to take the scepter to Santi ”.
-Did you expect it?
“If I tell you that I was not expecting it, I am lying, because realize that we see all the suits in the back, we see the vibes of the candidates… So whether you want it or not, at least in my case, I have to say that I I expected it quite a bit.”
-How was your experience participating on the stage of the Fairgrounds?
“I wanted to be super conscious… I remember it as a shot of adrenaline, the doors opened and I said: Ruth, you have to be conscious, count to 10, get out and pull, it’s not heavy”.
-And in the street?
“The experience on the street is brutal, what’s more, the first parade I wouldn’t stop crying, because people wrapped me up in a way that I said, am I the queen of carnival or the queen of Spain, that people love me so much ? It was super exciting, people could tell they wanted to after so long without carnival in the street”.
-How has it been that it is one of the shortest reigns? Are you sorry to hand over the scepter so soon?
“After all, you have to hand over the scepter and the reign has to end. I think that since I was so psyched that it was going to be in June I don’t have the shame of saying Oh, I don’t want to! It is true that it saddens you a little because it is your reign, but I am happy and I want to crown the next one ”.
-How do you rate the experience with your designer and his team?
“I connected a lot with Santi, what’s more, when I talk about Santi I get emotional because what he was in charge of doing throughout the process was advising me, supporting me and giving me security. The team too, we have a huge team… They did everything so well that I couldn’t afford not to bring the scepter. That is why we say that we are the Santi Castro team or the Castro family… We created a great, enormous bond, so much so that I came out in 11th place, I tattooed the number and several people from the team also tattooed it. The experience marked us all”.
-And with the rest of the participants?
“At the beginning there was a very good vibe with the candidates, but when we began to see the material that was in the Fairgrounds, or to notice how strong the other candidates could go, unfortunately I did not connect with many candidates. It is also true that many designers act very to their ball. In fact, I only have a relationship with one, who I consider my friend. Nothing else, there is a lot of falsehood (sic) honestly, at least in my case”.
What advice would you give your successor?
“What I recommend to any candidate for carnival queen is to be humble, be you, be honest and represent your team the best you can, because I have said it many times and I will continue to say it, the reign does not end when you take the scepter , the reign begins there and it is a very big responsibility, since you are not only representing yourself, but you are representing the entire Carnival of the islands”.
