Really nice chat with our lovely and talented friend from Barcelona. She tells us about skating in her city and shares her love of surfing waves and asphalt.

Hola Eider! Where are you from?
Hello Gbemi, I’m from Zumaia, a small town of the Basque Country. But now I live in Barcelona.

When did you start skating?
I started when I was a little girl. I was  7 or 8 years old. My cousin gave me a Santa Cruz skateboard.

Have you been skating since then?  
Yes I skated for many years just as transport and not seriously like now.

What was it like skating in Zumaia?
I used my board every day for getting to a spot where I could watch the waves of the sea and to move in town.

Now you skate seriously?
I try jeje. I try to make some tricks. I think it’s a little bit different than before.

How is it different? 
Mmm because when I was living in my town, I didn’t know many skaters and I always skating by myself and after a while it became just a tool for transport.

When did you finally meet some skaters?
When I came to Barcelona, I had the pleasure to meet great longboarders who showed me the best of this sport. Thanks to all.

When did you start riding longboards?
3 years ago in Barcelona, with my handmade board haha. Before that I was riding a shortboard. But one day, a friend let me ride their longboard and soon after I started working at a Longboard shop in Zarautz.

How did you feel after your first time longboarding?
It was very similar to surfing and snowboarding which I did a long time ago. I also bodyboard and I love it!

Who did you skate with in the beginning there?
I skated with Carles Yagues, Axel and Aleix, Viqui and more riders from the city.

What is it like skating in Barcelona?
Here we have got a lot of good spots where we skate and a lot of good riders that I can learn from.

What kind of riding do you enjoy?
I enjoy all the modalities but lately I’ve done more freeride and downhill. They give me a lot of good sensations. I would like to learn more and keep on with this.

Do you race?
Yeah! This year I decided to compete so I could learn more. I attended 4 races so far.

How did you do in the races you entered?
I got a successfully result for myself, I achieved what I wanted to and I had fun. The most important thing is to participate. In every race I learned a bit more.

Will you be doing any races outside Spain?
Yes for the moment only Peyragudes. I will go there to watch and learn from all the good longboarders and love the experience.

Is this your first IGSA race?
Yeahhhh! I’m very excided and nervous.. jajaja

What do you ride?
Now I ride many Lush Longboards and I’m really grateful. I have a Shocker for Downhill and Symbian for freeride.

How come you have so many Lush boards?
They gave me the opportunity of ride for them and I’m really happy!

When did you get sponsored?
Last January. But on the national team. I would love if I were in the international team.

Who else is in the national team?
In Lush and sabre team:
Francisco Javier Velasco Sanz
Sergio Astray
Eider Paredes

Cult team : Alvaro Bajo
Imanol Ormazabal

What other sponsors do you have?
Inercia shop (the shop where I work) and Lasai Wear.

When did you first get sponsored?
Last year. Inercia was my first Longboard sponsor.

What is Inercia?
It is a Roller and Longboard shop in Barcelona.

It must be fun working in a skate shop!
Yeah I have been working here since I was 16 years old. I can’t see myself doing anything else jajajajaja.

WOW! What do you like about it?
I like to explain to people all that I know about Longboard and surf. It is a good way for me to learn more each day.

Are you happier riding in the water?
Yes but now really enjoy surfing the streets of Barcelona and I feel so good!

How did you get into downhill?
Cristina Mandarina used to tell me that I should go with her and try to do some downhill with her friends. So one day we went and I really liked it. It was a different feeling.

Who is Cristina?
Cristina is my best longboard friend! I love to skate with her. She is nice, a good person and very good rider. Together we are always trying to do things better.

Was she the first girl you skated with?
No… The first girls were Vicky Volpini and Elisabeth Melero. Very good people.

OOOOOOH Elli! She is very… Nice haha.
Yeahh super Elii. She is always happy and I’m motivated a lot riding with her in the water too.

Are there many other girls in Barcelona who skate?
Yeah there are many girls and many good riders. Barcelona is perfect for that.

Do you have a crew?
Yes we have the GOW (Girls Over Wheels) crew.

What is GOW?
GOW is a Girl crew that we made here in Barcelona. It´s for all the girls who longboard and want to learn.

Who made it?
We created the group from a group of friends that was always skating together: Clara, Marta Guillen, Cristina Mandarina, Marina, Vicky, Guio, Ana, Alba, Andrea, Eli and me ( I hope that I didn’t forget anyone).

When was it made?
1 or 2 Years ago I think…

Why did you guys decide to make the crew?
We just meet and wanted to have a crew in Barcelona, so we could make events and have fun!

What events do you organise?
Now we don’t organise anything because we are so occupied, but when we started we organised girls meetings to learn from each other and to enjoy ourselves.

Any trips?
Yeah we have made some trips to Puigcerda and Montseny.We have  a lot of fun practicing the sport we love.

Do you guys ever make videos?
Yes Marta does some videos like ”Longboarding Barcelona”, ”Let´s gow Puigcerda”, and some of individual GOW riders like Cristina Mandarina.

Who is Marta?
Marta is the film-maker of GOW and many other long riders filmer too.

What are your plans for the rest of the season?
We don’t know yet. But I hope that after the Peyragudes we can go to some beautiful beach to relax to start strong the next season.

Choose 3 numbers between 1-39.
17-2-6

17- Do you prefer skating without socks or without underwear?
without socks haha

2 – Would you rather have a hook for a hand or a wheel for a foot?
a wheel for a foot

6 – What is the strangest food you’ve eaten?
Calçots with romesco

Eider! It has been wonderful to speak to you again. I hope I see you soon guapa.
Thanks for the interview, it was nice sharing these moments with you.

Any thank yous?
Thanks to you of course haha. And then thanks to all the riders that have contributed something to my skate life and my sponsors for making everything possible.

Links
- http://www.facebook.com/EiderWalls
- martagdiaz.tumblr.com
- http://www.facebook.com/martaguillendiaz
- https://vimeo.com/user3786855
- http://www.facebook.com/girls.over.wheels

Photos by Miss Marta Guillen