Dreamers: Nelia Pérez

Persona sentada en un sofá blanco frente a un fondo rosa, vestida con conjunto negro que incluye blazer y pantalón. Luce pendientes de aro y collares en capas, con el cabello largo y liso. Las manos están entrelazadas, transmitiendo serenidad y presencia. El entorno minimalista y el contraste cromático entre fondo y vestimenta aportan fuerza visual, ideal para contenidos editoriales, campañas de comunicación o retratos institucionales que celebren identidad, estilo y autenticidad.

“I dream that showing yourself as you are is not an act of bravery, but something natural”

At ILUNION Hotels, we believe that every personal story deserves to be told with honesty. Dreamers was born to look beyond job titles and discover the people who give meaning to our company.

The protagonist of this installment is Nelia Pérez, Head of Procurement. She was born with agenesis of the left arm and has used prosthetics since she was very young. Her childhood was, as she says herself, good and normal. At school, she had no special adaptations and practiced swimming, ballet, flamenco, or tennis like any other girl. At home, disability wasn’t talked about: it was normalized.

At home, disability wasn’t talked about: it was normalized. “I suppose so that I wouldn’t feel different from other children.”

When hiding also robs you of freedom

It was during adolescence when she began to feel the need to hide the prosthesis. Through her clothes, she discovered that she could decide when to show it and when not to. Over time, she understood that the aesthetic prosthesis, which in theory gave her security, also took it away: it allowed her to hide, but it robbed her of freedom. “Acceptance is not a switch,” she explains. “There are days when I feel free and natural, and others when it is harder for me.”

Nelia joined ILUNION Hotels from the events sector, attracted by the way of working and the values. Here, she has allowed herself to openly admit that she has a disability and to live with it naturally. “You talk about it, you normalize it, you even laugh about it.” Outside, she admits, society is still not always prepared, but those reactions have become a personal filter.

Today, Nelia is clear that she has never wanted to be someone else or change what happened to her. She believes that everyone, with or without a disability, has something to hide. That is why she dreams of continuing to normalize things and of showing oneself as one is ceasing to be an act of bravery and becoming, simply, something natural.