Brad Pitt had already won over San Sebastián before he even set foot in the Spanish city. Starting first thing Sunday morning, the Fight Club actor’s fans had been camping out by the entrance to the María Cristina Hotel, where the movie stars attending the San Sebastián Film Festival are staying since the showcase kicked off on Friday. Inside the hotel, a palpable sense of anticipation hung in the air: security was much tighter, and the lobby was cordoned off. Members of the press, distributors, and other guests were politely asked to clear the area.
Outside, the sun was shining brightly, a crowd had gathered, and even Carmen Machi (who received the National Film Award at this festival) was peering out from the hotel’s rooftop. Everyone was watching for Pitt (which car will he arrive in?), so much so that stars Miguel Ángel Silvestre and Blanca Suárez —who were guests at the Armani Beauty party last night—were able to leave through another door, each on their own, with barely any onlookers to stop them.
Pitt’s scheduled arrival time was 12:15 p.m.; it was 1:00 p.m. and still nothing. The security strategies of a star as famous as Brad Pitt are such that not even the press knew which airport he would land at at: three runways had been reserved for a private plane—one in Bilbao, another in San Sebastián (which is in Hondarribia), and one more in Biarritz. It’s said that, to throw people off the trail, drivers were sent to all three airports.
