Isabela Alves, a well known character from the television programme “Elaine Space”, is the latest celebrity to be linked with the Real Madridistas. Born in Grenada, she has British nationality as her mother was British and her father is Hispanic. She played a key role in the TV series as the attractive and intelligent wife of a wealthy Spanish banker, who treated her with considerable respect and gave her a great deal of privilege. However, as her marriage deteriorated she discovered that she had to adjust to life in a new country where she had to make some compromises. There she met with the head of the bank, who offered her a promotion, and later became a vice-chairman at the bank.
Isabela has a natural flair for languages and is fluent in English, Spanish and French. This served to make her a valuable member of the team at La Sociedad Anonima, which she joined in the late eighties and left in the nineties. Although she seemed to lose her former charm during the recession, she seems to have regained it somewhat, as she has returned to the public eye and attended a charity ball in New York, which was hosted by ex Chelsea Clinton. Her most important qualification is that of being a qualified accountant, having passed the CPA exam, and therefore being eligible to sit for an interview with Chelsea Clinton. However, her most impressive feat is that of becoming the first ever dual citizenship holder of Spanish and British nationality. She thus has dual citizenship rights, which allowed her to vote in the British general election last year.
Isabela Alves represents a new breed of celebrity, the offspring of two nationalities whose marriage has failed. However, this achievement brings with it certain responsibilities on her part, as she has to integrate herself not only into the British society but also into the democratic institutions of her own country, where there are differing nationalities and cultures. She must therefore ensure that the revolution that her parents started is a success, by continuing to uphold her own identity, while accepting the differences between her own citizenship and that of her host country. This is a far cry from the situation of many celebrities who, despite coming from very different nationalities, end up accepting the culture, language and lifestyle of their host country. Despite the best efforts of her lawyers, who represent the interests of her children, the Spanish court has refused to give the family a full legal status, thereby depriving them of all the benefits which would have been awarded to them under the British law.