Menchu Álvarez del Valle


María del Carmen "Menchu" Álvarez del Valle is a Spanish radio journalist and paternal grandmother of the Queen of Spain, Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano.

Biography

Considered one of the most popular voices of Asturian radio, Menchu Álvarez del Valle has two sisters: Flora and María Sol, "Marisol del Valle", Doctor of the Complutense University of Madrid and also a radio journalist and audiovisual communication teacher. Her mother was named Plácida del Valle Arribas, and her father, Eulalio Álvarez de la Fuente, was a typographer and editor.
She was born in Santander, and has lived in Oviedo since age 16. She has worked in radio since she was very young, starting with Radio Asturias. In 1947 she joined Radio Oviedo, followed by La Voz del Principado,, and finally Radio Nacional de España. For 42 years she was a successful announcer, as well as creator of new radio shows such as Coser y cantar and Rumbo a la gloria. She retired in 1990. Throughout her career she received multiple awards.
Álvarez del Valle married Jose Luis Ortiz Velasco, a representative of Olivetti, in 1949. They had a son Jesús José Ortiz Álvarez, and two daughters, Maria del Henar, a decorator by profession, and Cristina, who worked as a governess in the Monastery of San Pedro de Villanueva and died in 2001. Álvarez del Valle rose to national fame when Jesús José's daughter Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, also a journalist, announced her engagement to the Prince of Asturias.
Jose Luis Ortiz Velasco died at the couple's home in Sardéu, Ribadesella, Asturias on 30 March 2005 at age 82.
Menchu received the National Radio Award from the on 13 February 2013. Her sister Marisol was also awarded at the same ceremony.