Lazos is much more than an agency dedicated to finding a partner.It also offers emotional support after breakups, against loneliness or simply helps to find emotional stability with oneself. Alicia Lopez Losantos, psychologist, sociologist and emotional coach, has been at the helm of this project for more than 20 years, which has 13 centers throughout Spain, four of them in Andalusia, specifically in Seville, Cordoba, Almeria and Malaga.
Lopez Losantos emphasizes that Lazos is not a normal marriage agency, nor a dating application; is a company that, with a personal method, matches like-minded people with each other, for common interests and life projects.
-What is the profile of the person requesting your services
-People between 30 and 70 years old with a high cultural level, economic stability and predisposition to have a stable relationship. We are not looking for the crush, but lasting stories over time. When they arrive we do a personal interview to find out about their lifestyle, their sentimental trajectory… Normally they don’t know what they want, what they do know is what they don’t want.
“Our clients don’t usually know what they want; they do know what they don’t want”
-They have four centers in Andalusia. What is the profile of the Andalusian who is looking for a partner
-There is everything. In Malaga, for example, the profile is younger than in Seville, who are usually over 45 years old. Between 65 and 75 years old, 70% of Sevillians who contact us may be walking. Like in Huelva, Cordoba, Almeria… In Cadiz it’s much younger too, but there are exceptions. Our oldest client is an 89-year-old man from Cadiz.
-There is not age for love.
-Of course. Society is very confused; older people have a great desire to live, to get excited, to share, feel, laugh… that is not lost with age, it is lost because one is resigned to losing it.
“Our oldest client is an 89-year-old man from Cadiz”
-What do they ask of a couple: that they be single, divorced, that they live near him/her…
-Andalusian clients move around a lot, they don’t mind meeting someone from another province as long as they are from the same Community. They are usually open, sociable, sensitive people, who demand people similar to them or them in character.
-The Andalucia offices have been the last ones to open. Did you think there would be demand
-This is very curious. We started by opening in Madrid, in the Basque Country… there is a popular belief that in the north it is more difficult to meet someone, that they are more closed or less sociable people. The Andalusian is famous for being more on the street, for living in bars, for socializing more. And it’s true, that’s why we believed that in Andalucia we were not going to do so well. But quite the opposite. Andalusians relate a lot, but they fall in love very little. We were amazed by the large number of clients who chose us and now they are our most powerful delegations.
With the pandemic, everything has changed. We are more at home, less on the street and we don’t know as many people as before. Have you noticed the change…
-Our partner search service has increased by approximately 20% precisely for this reason: because we cannot go to a bar for a drink, meet someone normally… but we are sure that this will happen and that our work also has future when the situation normalizes. In addition, what have increased the most are psychological consultations; there are many people now feeling more alone than ever, uncertainty and fear take their toll on our spirits, it is evident, and it is okay to ask for help.
-There are also more couple crises, and breakups, according to the surveys.
-Yes, we live day to day, the rush, the work, the children… and during confinement the world came to us, and reality, on top of it. Many couples who were estranged ended up breaking up. We also gave a cable to some who resorted to our services. If it can be saved, it is saved. Other times, a timely withdrawal is better than continuing to lose emotionally.
-We talk so much about physical health, that we are forgetting about mental health.
-Exactly. At this point, after almost a year of the pandemic, there is hopelessness, an enormous mental exhaustion. This is when we must foster resilience, learn to see things on the positive side, to be optimistic even if it is complicated. We have to look for alternatives if we cannot do what we did before, find a new meaning in life.
