PALENCIA. He opened his hairdressing salon in June, driven not by the lack of employment but by the need for a change of life. "And for love," says Alberto Bernal, who offers his clients a unisex service in his shop, set up "on a whim" on Cardenal Cisneros Avenue.

"I am from Salamanca and I came to Palencia for love, because my girlfriend is also from Salamanca and has been working in Palencia for three years, that's why I came. I was working for a cosmetics company, Alcántara Cosmética, I had a steady job and in January I decided to turn my life around. I was working as a technician for the company, I was traveling around the world doing hairdressing galas, shows, courses, and I was very tired of traveling, since I was making an average of 30 or 40 trips a year. I would go to Morocco to do a hairdressing fair in Casablanca, I would come back and spend three days in Madrid and then go to Miami, come back and go to Milan for a fashion magazine...", says Alberto, who is very well adapted to Palencia.

"It's a quiet city, I loved it, I like the place and the people, I'm very happy," emphasizes Alberto, who comes from a family with a tradition in the trade.

"They are all hairdressers, my father, my mother, my brother, we have hairdressers in Salamanca" adds Alberto, satisfied with how the business is going.

"I came with the idea of setting up a business and I can't complain, I have people every day and little by little it's working. Word of mouth works a lot, people like it. As far as I can see, I'm working well. Coming from outside, finding a niche is phenomenal... These are very difficult times, but now I'm going to take on a person in December", emphasises Alberto, who recognises that setting up a business is difficult.

"You don't get any help, you put everything in, you go to the administrations and they all tell you that there is nothing. It's a risk, because I had a job, but if you don't risk, you don't win," he says.