The Barcelona native from Shumen, the advertising “guru” who reinvents Bulgaria every time

Luis Bassat appeared in our country almost by chance, to stay in it forever

I have traditionally had a warm relationship with all the Spanish ambassadors in Sofia for the last thirty years. And not only because the city of Bejar is in Spain. There is probably some heredity in this relationship, a kind of tradition to always be one of the first couple of people every new Spanish ambassador must meet.

That’s why

the ambassador’s call

didn’t surprise me a lot, I’m rather surprised at the invitation “hey Max, if you could come now and have a coffee with one of your Spanish colleagues who is in Sofia for just for a couple of hours”.

In a few minutes, we talked quietly and meekly with my new acquaintance about advertising and PR. It turns out that we work together in a big US corporation — WPP, and it was already late afternoon when the guest suddenly asked: “Can we just jump together to the city of Shumen for an hour or two and come back before tonight…”.

I was not only shocked, but I was almost sure that it was some joke… A Spaniard I see for the first time wants to “jump” in the late afternoon for “an hour or two” to my hometown and return on the same day, given that it takes about five hours just one way to get there…

The man in the room, however, was completely serious and did not even mention my surprise, and… that’s how we met Luis Bassat, an outstanding professional, a great personality, the legendary Spanish Mr. Advertising, as he is often called, whose

grandfather turns out to have been born… right in Shumen.

We became close friends straight from our very first meeting, and just a few weeks later, there was already a second one, so together with him and his lovely wife Carmen, we traveled together to Shumen for a whole week. He even ordered the traditional Bulgarian tripe soup almost every day, which Luis claimed he had never tasted before, but from the first moment he touched it, he was sure it would be an important food in his life…

- You know Maxim, I lived all those years hearing legends about Bulgaria, Shumen, the people here, and nature. It just happened that I never got here. But now, when I breathe the air of Shumen, I can even feel that this is where my life started.

I didn’t quite understand it then; I even took those words with a bit of suspicion, but… just a few months later, when

Luis and Carmen took me to the town of Bejar

and I had the same feeling.

Luis tells me in each meeting we had how Bulgaria is still an unknown destination even for a not-so-distant European country like Spain. I repeated the same when I met him again in the summer of 2023, almost 20 years later… I felt disappointed that even an expert like him doesn’t see the change, and if so, it’s not there, as he often tells me in a friendly way:

“Maxim, go back to Bulgaria and tell the people in the government

whom you know that they must do something to promote the country. The advertising legend David Ogilvy, when I knew him too well personally, used to say that a country that does not promote itself can hardly be successful, both in tourism and investment…”

Luis argued that nowadays, the public relations business is taking more and more precedence over advertising, and Bulgaria should make the most of this change. “You should now understand as much as possible that we have media in our hands, social media that we can manage ourselves and gain followers but also fans for our country. I am not the real target, I’m the biggest supporter of Bulgaria” he joked, and I’m convinced that’s exactly right.

Several of Bassat books have already been translated into Bulgarian, and a series of exhibitions of his phenomenal paintings, owned and preserved in

exclusive Bassat Gallery in Mataro,

near Barcelona.

- However, everyone should remember — you can have millions for advertising for other promotions. Still, without creativity, without interesting, I would say unique ideas, you will not be able to achieve anything, it will be just a waste of money, and that’s all… Only memorable ideas can position Bulgaria in the right place, which is its rightful place in Europe and the world…

Luis pauses momentarily, sips his cup of tea, and adds, “Bulgaria, for one reason or another, is still an unknown country.

That is why be sure to use the word “discover.”,

you understand that the beauties of Bulgaria, the people, and the uniqueness still must be discovered… This is practically true for every country; I have been saying for years that advertising, promotion, should never stop, never…”

Then he tells me that he always rediscovers Bulgaria every time he arrives here, and we agree to go together again to the wonderful Shumen next time. With Carmen, of course.

Text to the photo: Maxim Behar and Luis Bassat, Barcelona, May 2023