OBITUARY: ENRIQUE NICANOR
press release
EAVE mourns the loss of former EAVE group leader and Spanish National Coordinator Enrique Nicanor.
It is with great sadness that EAVE received the news that our dear friend Enrique Nicanor, filmmaker and advocate for public broadcasting, passed away in Madrid on July 8, 2025, at the age of 80. His work was instrumental in shaping a culture of public television in post-Franco Spain, helping to establish democratic values through cultural programming.
Born in Spain and raised in Havana, Nicanor studied Fine Arts. He began his career in Cuba as a cartoonist and animation director at the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC) before moving to Paris. He returned to Spain in 1967 at the request of Adolfo Suárez and was appointed Director of TVE 2, one of the country’s two public television channels, in 1983. He created Barrio Sésamo, Spain’s first version of Sesame Street, and developed cultural programming that helped shape Spanish public television after the Franco era. He was an independent producer from 1988 until his passing.
His life-long work, including leadership positions at INPUT (International Public Television Conference), played a key role in strengthening public service broadcasting across Europe, and received multiple accolades over the years, notably with a Premio Ondas in 1983 and the Golden Medal of the Galician Academy of Audiovisual Arts in 2005.
As group leader for many years, and later as EAVE National Coordinator in Spain, Enrique contributed greatly to EAVE's growth, and was always a loyal supporter.
As EAVE Head of Studies Lise Lense Moller puts it: "Enrique was a very kind, knowledgeable, lovely gentleman in the old sense of the word, but also an artist and a family man. He seemed to know everybody worth knowing in Spain and beyond - whether in the film business or local gourmet restaurants that one would have never spotted without him. And for me personally, he was a very generous and supportive mentor when I, as a young producer from Denmark, joined EAVE in 1992 to become a group leader. I am forever grateful to have known him."
Enrique Nicanor is survived by his spouse, Cayetana “Tany” Mulero; their two daughters, María and Cayetana; and his grandchildren, Penélope, and Noah. The EAVE community would like to express to his family our love and admiration for their husband, father, and grandfather; we send our warmest condolences to them.
Enrique will be dearly missed by his EAVE family.
Page published 15 July 2025. Updated 31 July 2025.
