At 65, María Adrover looks back on caring for her husband while working at a Mallorca hotel

For María Adrover, a look from her husband, a kiss or a caress could provide the strength to face another day. She cared for Antonio, known to loved ones as Toni, for six years after he developed cancer and later advanced Alzheimer’s disease.

Adrover was 20 when they married and moved to Colònia de Sant Jordi, a small town in southern Mallorca. She began working as a room attendant and spent nearly 30 years cleaning rooms at a small guesthouse. Her skills eventually led her to become a hotel housekeeper, just as her husband’s illness changed their personal life.

She said her employer made the arrangement possible by giving her flexible hours. If she needed to leave, she could go and return later. In the final years, when she could no longer move her husband alone, a woman came to help until he was collected for a day centre. Adrover picked him up in the afternoon.

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Every day I received a look from him, or a kiss or a caress. With that, you find strength for yourself and for him.

Her husband died two years ago. Adrover said work gave her a mental escape because she enjoyed it, while support from her company, family and daughter helped her through the hardest period. She now also cares for her two grandchildren and her mother.

Adrover is approaching retirement after working in only two hotels. She says she feels both happy and emotional about the change. At her current hotel, she jokes that she is everyone’s grandmother because she is the oldest worker. “I am very happy working, that’s how things are,” she said, while also acknowledging that it is time to make way for younger people.

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I am very happy working, that’s how things are.