Ignacio Lopez: “There are splits and divides everywhere I've lived”
The comedian on never feeling quite at home and how his Welshness challenges identities
Hi, welcome back to Mixed Messages! This week I’m speaking to comedian Ignacio Lopez, who is of Spanish, Moroccan, Welsh and Irish heritage. Living between Spain and Wales, Ignacio is often seen as the ‘odd one out’ no matter what country he’s in, but the more he understands about his family background, the less he cares about fitting into boxes. Read on to hear Ignacio’s story.
How do you define your mix?
I used to say half-Spanish and half-Welsh, but the more I look into my family, the less I like saying ‘half-and-half’. I grew up in Majorca, with a Spanish Moroccan dad and a Welsh Irish mum. My dad and his sisters grew up in Meknes, Morocco, but I’ve never been.
Has anyone ever used any other terms to describe you?
In Wales, old guys would call me a ‘mongrel’ or ‘mixed-breed’, which was horrible. I remember hearing that word and having to ask my mother what it meant – that was a heartbreaking conversation.
As a kid I just wanted to blend in, but there’s not many Ignacio Lopez-s in Wales. I stood out as the only one, especially when my dad moved to Spain after my parents split up.
Did you feel distanced from your Moroccan background?
I knew so little about my dad’s background because he never spoke about it. He had quite a tough upbringing in Meknes, after his father died, and then in Spain, where a lot of Moroccan migrants face racism.
There were signs of their culture, maybe a Moroccan dish they’d cook, but they wouldn’t tell me about it. It wasn’t until I was a teenager, spending time with my dad in Menorcan flea markets that were full of Moroccan sellers, that I saw him interact with Moroccan people.
My mother tried to make sure we had an idea of our British culture growing up. My dad worked in tourism, running bars and restaurants for British people, so we were always surrounded by that. But you don’t really realise something until you experience it. When I came to Wales, I realised that I did things that not everyone does, like eating with my hands.
Has being mixed exemplified how disconnected society can be?
Everywhere I’ve lived there have been splits and divides. In Majorca, people speak Mallorquí, which is the native language. But at home, we spoke Spanish, because we weren’t native. In Wales, they speak Welsh and I developed a Welsh accent, but I was seen as ‘the Spanish kid.’ In Majorca, people would refer to me as being “from London.” I’d never been to London before!
Is how other people define you important to you?
The older I get, the less I care about fitting into boxes. I just want to find out who I am and celebrate this weird mix that came together and made me.
People tell me that I can’t identify as Welsh, because it challenges their idea of their own Welsh identity. I wish that people wouldn't want to label stuff all the time and asked questions instead.
Do you have a mixed community around you?
We cling to like-minded people, especially the older we get and your group of friends gets smaller – it’a a form of lizard protection. At school in Wales, I was best friends with one of the only three Black kids in school. We stuck together and made it through.
One of my other friends is Jewish and Iraqi, and we have so many shared experiences despite growing up at different ends of the world. Everyone has unique experiences – even if someone has exactly the same mix of backgrounds as me, they’d have a completely different experience, but there’s more that unites us than divides us.
If you could define your personal mixed experience in one word, what would that be?
Exploration. I’ve been trying to investigate my background and have gone on this journey of mapping out where I come from.
Next week, I’ll be talking to illustrator Elyssa Rider. Subscribe to get Mixed Messages in your inbox next Monday!
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Mixed Messages is a weekly exploration of the mixed-race experience, from me, Isabella Silvers. My mom is Punjabi Indian (by way of East Africa) and my dad is White British, but finding my place between these two cultures hasn’t always been easy. That’s why I started Mixed Messages, where each week I’ll speak to a prominent mixed voice to delve into what it really feels like to be mixed.