Pepe Domingo Castaño, who died this Sunday in Madrid at the age of 80, was one of the best-known radio voices in Spain. The cause of his death has been explained by his colleagues at Cope, who dedicates his programming to the great deceased journalist. Pepe Domingo suffered a heart attack ten years ago and had to go to the emergency room after feeling chest discomfort when he was having dinner at a Madrid restaurant.
But the cause of his death had nothing to do with his heart. He was admitted after feeling discomfort in his throat, but everything was complicated by an intestinal infection that led to septicemia. Later, multiple organ failure took him away at two in the morning, surrounded by his wife and his loved ones at the La Zarzuela hospital.
Pepe Domingo was born in Drono-Lestrone (A Coruña) on October 8, 1942, although he moved to Padrón as a child and lived his childhood and part of his youth there.
He was a Dominican novice in an Asturian seminary and studied teaching.
His first job was as an accountant. Later, through a press advertisement, he started working at Radio Galicia, in Santiago de Compostela, where he remained for two years, until in 1966 he moved to Madrid.
His first years in the capital were hard, going through financial problems until finding the desired job at any Madrid station.
He worked selling books and recording audio versions for ONCE. He collaborated for a time on Radio Juventud and La Voz de Madrid, but he had his great opportunity at Radio Centro, where he remained for five years and where he trained as a professional by presenting a musical program titled “Disco parada”.
In 1973 he was called by Cadena SER, a station where he presented “Viva la radio”, “Sintonía sobre Ruedas” and for five years “El Gran Musical”, together with Joaquín Luqui, a program with which he achieved great popularity and received in 1975 his first Ondas.
He has also worked on television. He began in spaces on TVE such as “Biblioteca Joven”, “A Todo Ritmo”, “Voces a 45”, “La Casa del Reloj” and later he was hired as a presenter on “300 Million”, where he was fired in 1982 and presented a complaint against Televisión Española, which he won in court.
Pepe Domingo returned to SER again, where he made various magazines, including “Madrid, Ahora”, which was followed by “Aqui, la SER”, and in the nineties he directed and presented the local program “Hoy por hoy Madrid”. .
Since 1988 he collaborated in “Carrusel Deportivo”, presented since 1992 by Paco González, in which he was in charge of making the live advertising spots, and until the beginning of 2006 in the nighttime sports program “El larguero”, by José Ramón de la Morena .
Castaño became one of the most successful entertainers on Spanish radio.
In September 1995, and after thirteen years away from television, he returned as host of the contest “Número Uno” on Telecinco.
After SER removed Paco González from the direction of the “Carrusel Deportivo” space in 2010, which ended with the journalist’s departure to the COPE network, Pepe Domingo Castaño followed him in mid-July after the Soccer World Cup and since then He performed the functions of presenter-entertainer of the weekend space “Playtime”.
He recorded some albums that were successful in Latin American countries, achieving a gold record in Mexico in 1979, where his songs “Motivos”, “Neniña” and “Terciopelo y fuego” were widely accepted, although in Spain they went unnoticed, with the exception from the song “Wear jeans.”
In 2009 he collaborated in the documentary series “On the Camino de Santiago”, for National Geographic.
He has also published several books, the poetry book “Andadura” (1978) and “Carrusel, Diario de un Año” (2006).
He won the Popularity Award from the newspaper “Pueblo” (1971); four Ondas awards (1975, the 1996 Special for “Carrusel Deportivo”, 2002 and 2005); the Antena de Oro in 1989 in his broadcasting section and another in 2010 for her career; “The Golden Microphone” from the Federation of Radio and Television Associations of Spain (2005), Diego Bernal Award 2011 from the Association of Journalists of Galicia.
Also the Prize for Arts and Sciences Applied to Sports from the National Sports Awards of 2011; the I Joaquín Prat Radio Prize, awarded to him by the Spanish Radio Academy in 2014; The Bravo! of Radio 2016 and 2018 of the Episcopal Conference; 2019 Gala Award from the Madrid Sports Press Association; or the 2019 Manuel Alcántara National Sports Journalism Award.
Other recognitions he received were the Guaca and Puro de Oro Award from Venezuela, “Wild of the Year” from the popular San Silvestre race in Madrid, “Matancero de honor” from Guijuelo, “La Vieira de Plata”, “Knight of the chapter of the Order Serenísima del Albariño” in Cambados (Pontevedra); Order of Honor “Golden Fork”, Motivo Song Award, Chamber of Commerce Award and Innocent Award from the jury as the most supportive known person.
He was Padrón’s “adopted son” and in 2015 he received the Castelao Medal, awarded to him by the Xunta de Galicia.
He was remarried to the former model María Teresa Vega, with whom he had two children. He was previously the husband of the television presenter María Luisa Seco, who died in 1988 due to bone cancer.