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The shop window of the premises is all about temptation. The virtual shopfront on social media is equally tempting. Dulcero Pastry, the new pastry shop in the district of Nueva Málaga, has managed to turn its product range into an art, using flavours in which many of Malaga's influencers have taken an interest, posting videos about the place on their Instagram and TikTok accounts.
Yet, behind this appetising and now viral showcasing online of this business lies a story that starts in Venezuela, carries on in Madrid, then Archidona, Riogordo and Puerto Banús and finally ends up in Nueva Málaga. This icing on the cake is a dream come true for Manuel Cárdenas, the 29-year-old Venezuelan who has just fulfilled his greatest wish with his shop in Calle José Iturbi.
He's doing it together with his sister Herika, who has been an essential support through difficult times for her pastry chef brother. Herika, who also has experience in the hospitality industry, is a crucial part of Manuel Cárdenas' dream. He has more than ten years of professional experience behind him. By the time he was turning 18 he was already an entrepreneur, launching his own bakery and made cakes to order for special events, weddings and communions from a small shop that was also open to the public.
"The business started to be unsteady because it was difficult to get the raw materials and we had constant power cuts", he recalls. That was the moment when he decided to do what he had always had in mind: emigrate to Spain.
He arrived in Madrid alone at the end of 2018 where he was welcomed by his friend Juan, who took him into his family home. A few months later, Juan helped Manuel make contact with a parish in Archidona so he could seek asylum and be able to develop his professional career as he wanted.
"There I started working in a bakery and gained a lot of experience with Spanish sweets," says Manuel, who some time later moved to Ríogordo to continue working in the same trade. Then came the opportunity to work in an up-market café in Puerto Banús and then in a bakery in Marbella. In the meantime, he spent a year and a half training in the art of patisserie at a school in Barcelona, all done online.
"I learned a lot. But there came a time when I became slightly depressed because I felt I needed to push on with everything I knew and had learned in recent years, but I couldn't find the means. I wanted to start a business as I had done in my country when I was 18 years old," says Cárdenas. That was the moment when his sister, who came to Spain a few years after him and also had experience in the trade, teamed up with him. The two of them decided to take the plunge and a friend told them about the Arrabal-Aid association.
They didn't hesitate: "We knocked on the door and Pepe Gómez immediately received us and showed his support," says Manuel. They were asked to send in their business plan and project and, from then on, all the steps were satisfactory. The Arrabal-Aid support worker included them in the Incorpora scheme run by Fundación La Caixa with which the association often works. So, in May last year, work began on the Nueva Málaga premises.
"Thanks to God and to them, who collaborated and helped us in every possible way so that the bakery could go ahead. We have no regrets whatsoever about what we have done", says Manuel now, nine months after the opening of the Dulcero Pastry bakery.
Along with the support from Arrabal-Aid and La Caixa Foundation, they also feel supported by the neighbourhood where their shop is located, mentioning that they already have a regular clientele among the locals. Manuel Cárdenas speaks fondly of Isa, a customer who visits the bakery daily to buy something and is called 'the cookie lover': "She has been a great support for us, she is already part of our family. She always arrives with a smile on her face and congratulates us on opening the business; she understands what this is all about because her family has been in the catering business."
When Manuel Cárdenas tells his story, the illusion of that first day of trading in Spain is still evident: "I've felt the desire to create again and my self-esteem, which was below zero, has soared with this opportunity", says the entrepreneur. His voice is now a motivation for those who have doubts and do not know where to go or what to do to receive some kind of help, both from people and financial.
Some parting words from this pastry chef: "It is not easy to start up a business, on a personal level there are doubts and nerves. But you have to do it because it is all part of the process, all these are feelings that a human being has to have in order to feel satisfied. I have experienced it this way and I can safely say that I have done it."
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