Amparo Costales has been working as a conference hostess since she was 19 years old. He has been to Baghdad, Paris, London and every city in the world where fairs and exhibitions are organized. The key to his profession is to smile a lot and be nice to people. There are so many men who have tried to pass, that she can’t remember how many times she had to say no. Amparo now chairs the Association of Hostesses and Models to achieve, among other things, decent working conditions.
The president of the Association of Flight Attendants is 28 years old and from Madrid. She speaks French, some English and spends her life in airport lounges. She is brunette, tall and slim, with no strings attached. “With all these things, how am I going to get married if I don’t stop in one place,” she says with a smile, “There’s a lot of confusion with stewardesses. Many businessmen think they can take you to the hotel,” she says. “You have to keep explaining that your job is something else.
The confusion is not only about gender. One of the last jobs she was offered was to look for associates for a brotherhood in Toledo; some businessmen have tried to pay her with a bouquet of flowers or a box of chocolates, and on some occasions she has lost a job for being serious.
“Racehorses.”
Amparo assures that in the casting – a pass to test the quality of the model – people are chosen “as if they were racehorses”. Afterwards, when they get a job, “they work most of the time without a contract and without a schedule. Social Security contributions are almost non-existent in this profession,” he says, adding that companies usually cover all travel and hotel accommodation expenses, but do not cover anything else. Meals, wardrobe and make-up are not included, despite the fact that her work is all about image.
The salary of a conference hostess can be between 2,000 and 3,000 pesetas per day. “There are no minimum rates, and contractors pay what they see fit. In this world you are a winner if you manage to work 100 days a year.”
During the past week, the association held its first congress in Madrid. Among the demands of this group, to which 200 people belong, are to dignify the profession of hostesses and models, to create a public school and to have their labor rights recognized.
With the creation of a school, they intend to obtain a degree and have their studies recognized by the Ministry of Education. “Most academies for models and hostesses don’t teach the minimum knowledge,” she explains. Amparo is in favor of professionalization. “Before, this work was done by good girls, and they were limited to being like smiling flower vases, but now you have to really work.”
The Association of Hostesses and Models, in addition to offering employment advice to its members, aims to fill the position of recruitment agencies. The Olympic Games in Barcelona and the Universal Exposition in Seville will be a great job opportunity for them, and they are ready to take advantage of it.
