Jozsef the Hungarian, the nightclub bouncer who vanished from Madrid: "The interesting life is a piece of shit because you suffer."

József, the protagonist of József the Hungarian (La Esfera de los Libros), the debut novel by Luis Enríquez, a media executive, is missing . "We haven't been able to find him," says the author. Fernando Campos , the owner of the Irish Rover, the Irish tavern where József ended up working as a doorman, made the story available to him one summer. Enríquez intoned the journalists' eureka— "it has to be told" —and a few months later he has pieced together the mosaic of escapes, desertions, and exiles with injections of fiction. The truth ends up seeping into the basement of literature.

Madrid was the last stop for a man on the run who disappeared again without a trace in the early 2000s. "Fernando Campos," Enríquez continues, "told me about József's life on the beach. One night, when the bar closed, József decided to reveal who he was." That giant from the east with fists of cement unwound the reel of his past while Campos, his boss, transcribed a quick biography on the order form. "They were very sketchy notes. Jumbled up. József didn't mind me taking them. I didn't use the notes until quite some time after I started writing. One Monday, after leaving Vocento, I didn't know what to do. So I started writing this story."

Luis Enríquez is the news advisor at El Confidencial , was CEO of Vocento until 2024, and general director of Unidad Editorial until 2011. And now he's written a book. "I documented the story as best I could. I tried to follow the thread of the articles, but I fictionalized the parts I didn't have. The fictionalized part doesn't fundamentally alter the story. I'm respectful of the story he told. I think of it as a chronicle. A camera sits on the guy's shoulder, and we see what he sees. The starting point is a chronicle. I suppose that's what Tom Wolfe did in The Right Stuff ." Enríquez's journalistic work reaches even into Jószef's blind spot. "Since I can't find the guy, it dries up. The other thing has been to document Jószef's life as reliably as possible. Since I can't certify it, the fiction begins."

The protagonist has no control over his life. "Every right decision he makes leads him to a headlong flight. The ground beneath his feet begins to sink. I've always loved that story in film and literature . The one in Apocalypto . 'Run!' 'Where to?' 'You run.' I'm also struck by the feeling you often have in life that I've already passed this far," he explains, explaining the concentric circles that lead Jószef to experience three exiles in one. He jumps from Budapest to Paris, from Paris to the Mediterranean coast, from the Mediterranean coast to Rwanda, from Rwanda to Tangier, and from Tangier to Tarifa. In any case, the book is a beacon for Enríquez. Throughout the reading, you can recognize the places he goes to graze. "Jószef's musical references are mine. The bands, the magazines, his obsession with the United States. Jószef wanted Nikes. I didn't have them until I was 17."

Garci, Julius Erving and Robert Dallek

József the Hungarian is an offering on the altar of new journalism. "It's dedicated to Talese, Carrère, and Thompson. I've been fascinated by Americans since I was a child. By their politics, their music, their history, and their literature. Watching Garci collect the Oscar for Volver a empezar made you feel like you were on the moon. Or the images of Julius Erving before his fascination with Jordan. I've read all the biographies of American presidents written by Robert Dallek. I suppose it all comes from cinema and journalism."

His father abandoned his journalistic calling for a promising career. "I did what he wanted. He was the one who requested the interview at ICADE. My grandfather was a journalist and poet, but I never met him. I remember going to buy Diario 16 with my father at VIPS. As a child, I knew Jiménez Losantos and Pedro J. I liked reading articles. And listening to Antena 3 radio, which was Eliot Ness's The Untouchables versus the all-powerful government of Felipe González. Sanchismo is a joke compared to Felipe González." The other source of his passion for newspapers is Gistau .

"I may sound like a stupid whiner, but I'd love to think he likes the book. I've read it a lot. I read some paragraphs in his voice. They have the tone of Low Blows . The first time I saw Gistau, I recognized him in the column because he resembled a friend of a friend who was also called David Gistau. I read it and it stuck: he was writing to me. He wasn't Umbral or Raúl del Pozo. Sometimes I dream about him. He has a day's leave and then comes back to life."

The information business is trapped. "Social media is vomit. The media wants to compete with social media. The media runs the risk of chasing the legend 'you won't read this anywhere.' The media tries to obtain information in a reasonable way, present it in a reasonable way, and make sure it's true. They don't have to destroy Sánchez or Feijóo or remove Irene Montero from anywhere. I used to say to Bieito Rubido, 'Cover my arrows. For each side, I know if we've given a positive or a negative .' What I hate are asymmetries. The confrontational position pisses me off. There's no room for nuances." And what can I say about readers? "They've realized that you can live reasonably well without knowing anything. You hear two slogans on the radio, read two tweets, and you'll have enough to spin an argument over dinner. That doesn't explain the primary function of being a citizen."

Every so often, a new piece appears pointing the finger at him for the Vocento crisis. Luis Enríquez was responsible for the creation of Relevo , the "new" sports outlet that the ABC publishing company wants to get rid of. "Think about it. It's not even three years old. It's the third-largest outlet, according to GFK, ahead of Sport . What do you mean it doesn't work? It produces reasonably qualitative information. It needs some experience as a business venture. The New York Times paid 500 million for The Athletic , which has negative EBITDA. There's a lack of business patience. We wanted to buy Marca. It was going to cost what? 100 million? Well, Relevo cost 15 or 16, or you could sell it for five or six times that. It requires more time."

José, meanwhile, remains missing. " It serves as a mirror: an interesting life is a piece of shit because you end up suffering like a dog."