A Granada marriage made in Amazon

Carmen Nestares began to believe in destiny at the age of six, the day her mother and grandmother put her - for a little while, at least - in charge of La Condesa , the legendary clothes shop on Calle Ganivet in Granada city. The girl sold a pair of pyjamas for a newborn baby and that achievement would accompany her for the rest of her life, from the classrooms of the University of Granada to her current position as vice-president of marketing for Amazon Prime USA.

The entrepreneur thinks about her journey as she takes a few seconds to look out over the Carmen de la Victoria terrace in the city, which looks over the Alhambra palace. "Granada is my homeland. I can't believe I'm going to get married with these views," she says.

On Wednesday 21 May, Nestares launched at the Royal Hospital the new Chair in Computing and Artificial Intelligence that Amazon, her company, has promoted at the University of Granada (UGR). She says, "with pride", that she owes a lot to Granada university: an education that opened the doors to the whole world, a scholarship, her first job... And her fiancé Tony, who she is marrying this Friday 23 May.

"This Friday I'm getting married in La Chumbera [restaurant] to the love of my life, the guy who was my boyfriend during my degree." A story that no one, not even them or the best of algorithms, could have predicted.

In 1995 Carmen was one of the few students enrolled on the new Business Administration and Management degree at the UGR. One night, out for tapas in the city, she met Tony, an American who had come to the city to learn Spanish at the Centro de Lenguas Modernas (modern languages centre). "He gave me his phone number and, well, I didn't call him," she laughs. But Granada is small and a few weeks later they crossed paths again. "He told me I hadn't called him and I couldn't think of anything else to do but invite him to the hunt my father was organising the next day. And he came," Carmen recalls.

Carmen and Tony started going out and stayed together throughout university. In fact, Tony decided not to return to the United States for her, so he looked for a job in Spain and soon found a place in a large cybersecurity company in Madrid, where he still works today. Carmen was also looking for a job and ironically she found one in Seattle. Carmen and Tony separated, found other partners, started families, had children... and did not see each other again until 20 years later.

"Five years ago we met again. And we are going to get married in Granada, where it all began."

In between, several things happened. Carmen received the Medal of Andalucía and she promised herself to "think bigger" in her homeland. So when her sister Teresa Nestares, a professor at the UGR, told her she had to meet Enrique Herrera, a world eminence in artificial intelligence, the Amazon vice-president saw a clear opportunity. The next day, Marifrán Carazo, mayor of Granada, invited her for coffee and told her that she had a vision: to build a powerful technology hub in the city.

"I went back to Seattle with all the ideas and that's how the position was born.... And that's also when I asked Marifrán to marry us at La Chumbera. And she accepted."

The wedding will serve to celebrate many things, all with a common link: Granada. "Granada means a lot to both of us. We're going to get together all the friends we used to go out with during our studies, the whole gang. And there will be more things to come, stay tuned, we have lots of ideas".

This Friday's party at La Chumbera was supposed to be Carmen's 50th birthday party. "But then Tony asked me to marry him and we changed it to a wedding," she says, smiling. The honeymoon will involve scuba diving, one of their passions. Another is reading and, as she lives in Seattle and he lives in Madrid, Carmen often sends him books via Amazon: "Of course!" "5,000 miles don't separate us any more. Besides, with the means we have today, it's super easy to feel close to each other".

And the dress? "I ordered it online from The Shop by Shopbob, one of Amazon's subsidiaries. The dress, the shoes, everything. And I didn't have to adjust anything," she says, amused. "But I like to dance, so I'm bringing another outfit to change into after the wedding.

Just then Tony walks in and we are introduced. The couple laugh and joke and talk excitedly about their wedding at La Chumbera. "The Alhambra is a good view, but I'll have the best," he says, winking at Carmen.

"I believe that in life there is a force that we do not know. I believe in destiny. And that destiny has been fulfilled. We hadn't spoken for 20 years and suddenly...". Long live the bride and groom.