Childhood (1940-1950)
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Pilar was born on October 12th in Madrid, where she lives most of her life, in a well-off family, in the post-war period. Her mother Rosario García Vázquez, was born in Canillejas, Madrid, and her father Francisco Lara Fernández, is a representative of the family business located in Úbeda (Jaén). She is the youngest of three sisters: Rosario and Josefa, and is christened Pilar as in her saint’s day.
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Her family leaves her maternal grandmother’s flat in calle Valverde, where they took refuge during the war, and moves to their own apartment in calle Altamirano.
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She becomes ill with scarlet fever, an infectious bacterial disease among children, widely spread during the post-war period. She was bedridden for weeks. Her condition is severe, affecting her heart, and it will mark her life.
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After some years of training within the family, she receives the primary education at “Colegio de las Escolapias” [Escolapias School], located in calle Evaristo San Miguel.
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She becomes seriously ill, for a second time, with a lung infection. She drops out of school for a year. After this, her family’s concern about her health condition, will turn into an obsession. She’ll be considered a sickly child. Later in her life, Pilar will recall having spent a “pampered childhood”, in her own words.
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Her family moves to a new flat, in calle Narváez.