Daniel Senperé y Fermín Romero de Torres

The relationship between Daniel Sempere and Fermín Romero de Torres grows from an act of shelter into a durable friendship shaped by gratitude, frankness, and mutual care. Daniel and his father bring Fermín in from the streets, while Daniel later offers him forgiveness rather than condemnation; Fermín, in turn, becomes a trusted companion who looks after Daniel and tries to protect the people he loves.

A Friendship Begins with Shelter

When Daniel and his father encounter Fermín living on the streets, his condition makes clear how much he has endured. Daniel’s father invites him home for a hot bath and lunch, and the two of them help him into the apartment. Daniel finds him clean clothes, while his father stays beside him and talks to him as he recovers. By the time Fermín is dressed in an old suit and shirt, Daniel can see that he and his father have already begun to form a connection with him.

The welcome is practical as well as emotional: the family gives Fermín a place to wash, clothes to wear, and a chance to sit at their table. That care becomes the starting point of a relationship in which Fermín regards his survival as bound to Daniel and his father. He later describes the day Daniel got him off the streets as the beginning of a renewed life, linking their friendship not to a single conversation but to the concrete act of taking him in.

Candor, Counsel, and Trust

Fermín’s friendship is not expressed as uncritical agreement. When Daniel is distressed because Beatriz Aguilar has not called as expected, Fermín gives him coins and tells him to use a nearby telephone to contact her privately. He has mentioned prostitutes only to test Daniel’s reaction, not to take him to a brothel. His deliberately blunt intervention redirects Daniel toward the decision he has been avoiding: whether to call Beatriz himself. The episode shows Fermín’s familiar combination of teasing and practical concern, and his willingness to say what he thinks Daniel needs to hear.

That candor has limits set by trust. Fermín later tells Daniel about his past and the pressure that left him compromised, admitting that he does not feel worthy of Daniel’s friendship. Daniel answers that Fermín is not an informer and that, in his position, anyone might have acted similarly. He calls Fermín his best friend. Rather than treating the disclosure as grounds for rejection, Daniel recognizes the circumstances and preserves the bond between them.

Fermín, in turn, understands the help he received as a debt of loyalty, saying that his life belongs to Daniel and his father and that he will do whatever he can for them. He also tells Daniel that the name he uses is not his original name: he took it from a poster at the Arenas bullring, while the person who once lived under his bones, as he puts it, is gone. He identifies Bernarda as a renewed reason for living. Daniel does not press him further; he embraces him, lets him cry, and promises not to disclose the story to Bernarda or anyone else. Their closeness is therefore shown not only in what Daniel learns, but in his decision to honor Fermín’s request for privacy.

Protection in a Hostile World

Fermín’s loyalty becomes especially consequential when he is forced into hiding after the murder of Nuria Monfort. In a secret note written on thin cigarette paper, he tells Daniel not to believe newspaper accounts that he is dead, assures him that he is safe in a secure place, and warns him not to try to find or contact him. Fermín asks Daniel to pass the message’s essence, discreetly and in code, to Bernarda. The note reveals how their friendship continues under threat: Fermín trusts Daniel with the truth but also gives him clear instructions intended to protect them both.

The relationship also runs in the other direction. During a later emergency, Daniel and the others bring an injured Fermín to Bernarda’s room, where a doctor confirms that he is alive and begins treatment. Bernarda’s panic and grief make visible how much Fermín matters to the people around him; Daniel is among those who carry him to safety. The scene places their friendship within a wider circle of care, without diminishing Daniel’s direct role in helping Fermín survive.

Friendship as a Practice of Care

Daniel’s care for Fermín is part of a broader ethic of attention to people whom official or social systems have left vulnerable. When Daniel and Fermín visit the hospice to ask after Jacinta Coronado, they encounter the loneliness of its residents and the small acts of kindness that sustain them. On another visit, Daniel sees an old man receive a tender farewell, and he and Fermín leave the pair alone. Their shared decision to step away grants the moment privacy rather than making it a spectacle.

Fermín’s own care is similarly attentive to need. At the hospice, he pays Rociito double after she has offered comfort to a resident; she gives her fee to Sister Emilia so the patients can have hot chocolate and sweet buns. Daniel and Fermín then leave together. These encounters widen the meaning of their friendship: they are not only bound by Fermín’s rescue or Daniel’s forgiveness, but also by a shared presence among people who need companionship and practical help.

Change and Narrative Significance

Fermín’s bond with Daniel marks a change in how he understands his own life. He contrasts the person he believes to have died with the man he has become after Daniel and his father took him in, and he names both Daniel’s friendship and his love for Bernarda as reasons to go on. Daniel’s response—an embrace, silence, and a promise of confidentiality—gives that change room to be acknowledged without turning it into a demand for explanation.

Their relationship is built from repeated acts rather than a single declaration: offering a bath and clothes, speaking honestly, carrying Fermín to medical care, trusting him with private news, and keeping a promise. Across these moments, gratitude does not make Fermín merely dependent, nor does Daniel’s kindness place him above his friend. Instead, the friendship develops into reciprocal loyalty: Fermín gives Daniel counsel and protection, while Daniel offers recognition, discretion, and the assurance that Fermín’s past will not erase his place among those who care for him.