Podcast Summary: "La charla | Pastora Soler: 'En los momentos más oscuros es cuando he vivido los mayores procesos de aprendizaje'"

Podcast: Hoy por Hoy
Host: Àngels Barceló (SER Podcast)
Guest: Pastora Soler
Date: December 10, 2025

Overview:

This episode features an in-depth and heartfelt interview with renowned Spanish singer Pastora Soler, celebrating her 30-year career and recent receipt of the Premio Ondas 2025 for Best Musical Trajectory. The conversation delves into Soler’s personal journey through darkness and success, the catharsis of writing her new memoir “Cuando se apagan las luces, aparecen las estrellas,” and the importance of self-acceptance and learning from life’s most difficult moments.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Receiving the Ondas Award and its Emotional Impact

• [00:11 - 00:53] The episode opens with a poignant moment as Pastora Soler is awarded the Premio Ondas 2025. She expresses deep gratitude for the award, acknowledging the role of family, colleagues, and her own resilience through career highs and lows.

  • Quote:
    “El día de hoy entero está siendo inolvidable... cuando se anunciaron estos Ondas, donde caben también los recuerdos más amargos y los puntos de inflexión que marcan una carrera.”
    – Pastora Soler [00:29]

• [01:38] She reflects on the goals still ahead, emphasizing personal growth after leaving behind "la etapa gris y oscura".

  • Quote:
    “Tengo todavía muchas metas por cumplir, muchos objetivos. Hacía tiempo que había puesto fin a esa etapa gris y oscura que tanto dolor me causó.”
    – Pastora Soler [01:38]

2. Writing Her Memoir: Facing Darkness to Find the Stars

• [03:02 - 04:10] Pastora discusses her memoir’s title and theme—how times of darkness led to her greatest learning.

  • Quote:
    “Quizás en los momentos de oscuridad ha sido cuando realmente he tenido los aprendizajes más grandes en mi vida.”
    – Pastora Soler [03:05]

• She shares that the arrival of her daughter after a traumatic professional pause was a pivotal “star” in her life.

• [04:14 - 05:23] The book and her 30-year anniversary tour serve as a celebration and closure. She decided to write her story after years of reflection, needing time and emotional distance.

  • Quote:
    “Yo hablo de todo ese momento más traumático, porque yo no lo he querido borrar ni olvidar, sino que ahí está para a veces recordarlo.”
    – Pastora Soler [05:10]

3. Breakdown: Crisis and Recovery – The 2014 Incident

• [05:23 - 06:44] The book begins with her onstage fainting incident in Sevilla (March 8, 2014). She recounts reliving the trauma while writing, describing the process as both therapeutic and painful.

  • Quote:
    “Sí, claro, he llorado, ha habido momentos... recordar con detalles esos momentos y sigue causando ese dolor.”
    – Pastora Soler [06:00]

• The memoir provides answers to recurring questions she’s faced since.

4. Distinction Between 'Pastora Soler' and 'Pilar Sánchez'

• [06:44 - 08:00] She describes the struggle between her stage identity and her personal self during her artistic crisis, and how her enjoyment of singing disappeared during those months.

  • Quote:
    “Hay que estar muy plena [en el escenario], pero al final te das cuenta que empieza por estar plena de manera personal... lo artístico está completamente conectado con cómo te encuentras.”
    – Pastora Soler [07:03]

• Fear of failure and public error crept in for the first time, disrupting her sense of freedom on stage.

5. Stepping Back: Announcing Her Retirement

• [08:18 - 09:43] After losing her voice in Málaga (Nov 2014), she published a statement announcing her retirement. This brought her immediate relief and forced her to redefine herself beyond music.

  • Quote:
    “Para mí era poner fin... después de haber llorado mucho, en el momento que compartí eso empecé a sentir alivio y liberación.”
    – Pastora Soler [08:53]

• She explains the surprising discovery of happiness outside her career during the three-year break.

6. Causes Behind Her Collapse: Self-Exigency and Eurovisión

• [10:21 - 11:26] Participation in Eurovisión (2012) was both a high point and a pivotal moment; sudden exposure and demands amplified her inner pressure.

  • Quote:
    “Mi autoexigencia y el no saber gestionar el... exigirme el 200%... Ahí empecé a tener problemas conmigo misma.”
    – Pastora Soler [11:14]

• After Eurovisión, she became her own harshest critic, obsessed with being vocally perfect and unable to accept vulnerability.

7. Early Career and Influence of Luis Sanz

• [12:42 - 16:16] The interview delves into the heavy influence of producer Luis Sanz, who discovered her at 14. Although grateful for his support, she reflects on the harm of his controlling management and her own sense of loyalty, which led her to accept difficult, sometimes hurtful circumstances.

  • Quote:
    “Ese sentimiento de lealtad y de agradecimiento también fue mi enemigo, porque había cosas con las que yo no comulgaba y que siempre accedía a hacer.”
    – Pastora Soler [13:56]

• Sanz's demands affected even her self-image, with pressure about her weight and personal life.

8. Healing and Self-Acceptance

• [16:26 - 17:52] Pastora affirms feeling healed, though she remains watchful for warning signs of burnout. Family life and motherhood now ground her well-being.

  • Quote:
    “Tengo todos esos momentos de sufrimiento y de lo que ha sido mi mayor aprendizaje... como mi manual de instrucciones.”
    – Pastora Soler [16:33]

• She highlights the importance of self-knowledge and self-love, the theme of her book’s subtitle.

  • Quote:
    “Todo empieza por ahí, el autoconocimiento y el aceptarte, la aceptación de cómo somos cada uno y conocernos dónde están nuestros límites y querernos, querernos mucho.”
    – Pastora Soler [17:39]

Memorable Quotes

• “En los momentos más oscuros es cuando he vivido los mayores procesos de aprendizaje.”
  – Pastora Soler [03:05] (Episode title quote)

• “La mejor manera de balancearlo todo [es] que tienes que estar pendiente de las cosas del cole. Y eso es la mejor manera de balancearlo todo.”
  – Pastora Soler [17:23]

Notable Moments & Timestamps

• 00:11 – Announcing Pastora Soler as winner of Premio Ondas 2025.
• 01:38 – Reflecting on overcoming the "etapa gris y oscura".
• 03:05 – On learning through darkness (“aprendizajes más grandes en mi vida”).
• 06:00 – The emotional challenge of revisiting painful memories while writing.
• 08:53 – Relief after publicly announcing her retirement.
• 11:14 – The introspective crisis following Eurovisión.
• 13:56 – On gratitude and loyalty sometimes being harmful (“mi enemigo”).
• 16:33 – Her toolkit for preventing relapse.
• 17:39 – The importance of self-knowledge and self-acceptance.

Closing

The episode ends with Pastora Soler reaffirming the value of accepting one’s limits and learning to love oneself—wisdom hard-earned through three decades of both stardom and struggle.

For more stories and conversations like this, listen to Hoy por Hoy on SER Podcast.