Barranquilla Carnival: stories of its best-known queens

Valeria Charris is in charge of leading the disorder at the Barranquilla Carnival 2022, but behind her there are eighty years of women who have passed through her place. Most of them are daughters of distinguished families of Barranquilla society, since it is the social clubs that apply them to receive that honor.

These are the stories of some of them.

Like all Carnival queens, Miss Cecilia Gómez Nigrinis came from a borrowing family and could indulge in hobbies such as private aviation. During her reign, the 1951 sovereign gave herself the pleasure of landing in Barranquilla in her private plane and excited those present.

Moved, the then mayor of Barranquilla, Raúl Fuenmayor, signed a decree to make Gómez Nigrinis “the queen of heaven”. After the archbishop shouted, the decree changed to make her “the captain of the heavens.”

Marvel Moreno's literary work described the Barranquilla high society of his time as a macho and hermetic elite. She said it knowingly: as she belonged to a wealthy family in Barranquilla, the writer had the opportunity to be the first female economist at the Universidad del Atlántico and was crowned queen of the 1959 Carnival.

There was a time when the queen of Barranquilla's Carnival was also competing as Miss Atlántico in the National Beauty Contest, which until 2019 elected the Colombian representative in Miss Universe. Only two Barranquilleras were able to take the Cartagena crown and the Carnival crown, and it just so happened that they were sisters.

Martha Ligia Restrepo was the queen of carnestolendas in 1963 and Miss Colombia in 1962. For her part, Luz Elena Restrepo won in Cartagena in 1967 and was the queen of the 1969 party.

Descended from a surname borrowing from the Atlantic, Lucy Abuchaibe was queen of the 1965 Carnival and heir to the Majestic Hotel. His father's business, José Abuchaibe, was a way to prevent a beautiful colonial-designed hacienda from becoming just another building.

The site was a must for international tourists and recognized in the hotel industry, but fell into bankruptcy due to the covid-19 pandemic.

Several queens of the Barranquilla Carnival bear the surname Donado and have dedicated themselves to arts and design. This is the case of Margarita Rosa Donado, queen of Carnival in 1972, who enjoys a certain prestige in the interior design business.

Ana María Donado, queen of 1980, founded together with her husband the house Schlegel Donado, dedicated to the design and manufacture of furniture. The company also belongs to his daughter Marianna Schlegel Donado, queen in 2009.

Another representative of that lineage is Daniella Donado Visbal, a renowned model, presenter, actress and influencer, who was sovereign in 2007.

Architect Katya González Ripoll was the queen of Carnival in 1976. He inherited the architecture firm González Ripoll y Asociados, with which he carried out large-scale projects in the city of Barranquilla.

Due to his profession, he has held some official positions such as the Directorate of National Heritage and the Vice-Ministry of Culture in the government of Andrés Pastrana. He was also the representative of Colombia on the UNESCO World Heritage Table.

In 1982 Mireya Caballero became Carnival queen, who years later married Augusto García, a businessman who was a liberal senator and director of Cormagdalena. He left the environmental corporation in 2019 by a decision of the Attorney General's Office, following an investigation into irregularities in a dredging contract.

With regard to Mireya, years later she became director of the Barranquilla Carnival Foundation. The Comptroller's Office of Barranquilla detected eighteen administrative failures during its management, including tax irregularities.

Marcela García Caballero, daughter of this couple, was queen of Carnival in 2016 and is a public relationship writer; she is currently linked to Rappi. She is also a columnist for El Heraldo and social media influencer. After their bad departure from the official entities, the spouses are engaged in livestock activity.

Queen of Carnestolendas in 1984, Flavia Santoro is the current president of ProColombia, the agency of the Government of Colombia to promote foreign investment and exports from the country. His resume also highlights the financial administration of the presidential campaigns of Oscar Iván Zuluaga and Iván Duque, as well as the Democratic Center party itself.

Renowned fashion designer Silvia Tcherassi is of Italian and French descent, but was born in Barranquilla. She was the queen of the Barranquilla Carnival in 1986, at the age of 21.

Four years after his reign he opened Altamoda, his first fashion company. Since then it has only collected successes.

The name of businessman Julio Gerlein Echeverría, brother of late Conservative Senator Roberto Gerlein, recently came out of the scandalous case of Aida Merlano, in which he would be linked by allegedly buying votes.

As a result of the marriage to Margarita Villa de Gerlein, two sisters were born. One is Margarita Gerlein Villa, who was queen of Carnival in 1988 and is the mother of Maria Margarita Diazgranados Gerlein, queen in 2014. The other is Liliana Gerlein Villa, who took the same position in 1991.

The cousins of the same house are Margarita Lora Gerlein, who was queen in 2003 and dedicated to philanthropy, and Maria Alicia Gerlein Arana, sovereign in 2007.

Several former Carnival queens are related to the political clan of the Char. The best known case is that of Katia Nule Marino, the wife of Alex Char, who was crowned in 1995.

Also worth mentioning is Laura Char Carson, daughter of businessman Simon Char and American Loraine Carson. Laura Char was queen in 1989 and her daughter is Disney star Sofia Carson.

Another relative of the house is Andrea Jaramillo Char, daughter of official Juancho Jaramillo and Maricel Char. The RCN News presenter was queen of Carnival in 2012.

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