Andrea Van Houtven received her Ph.D. in art history at the University of Maryland. Her dissertation was on the relationship between art and humanism at the Spanish court in the early 17th century, which inevitably led her to Madrid. She has lived in Madrid for 12 years where she has been teaching art history and art-related courses at various universities and private centers. She also participates in special events at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.

Originally from Equatorial Guinea, Clara moved to Spain when she was 2 years old. She holds degrees in geography and history and a Master’s in art history from Sorbonne University in Paris. With more than fifteen years experience in museum education and public programs, Clara has worked at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice (Italy), the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C, and a number of institutions within the cultural department of the Ministry of Culture in Spain. She also has designed art and cultural tours for groups for more than 10 years. At present Clara works as a Public Programmes and Communication Coordinator at the Museo del Traje (Costume Museum) of Madrid, organising events, lectures, group visits and educational programmes. An avid traveller, she has lived in Seville, Bilbao, New York City, Washington, D.C., Venice, Florence, London and Paris. Interested in different aspects of Spanish cultures, she also has been developing her other passion: food. She has certificates in wine tasting from the Spanish School of Wine Tasting and the Basque Culinary Center and in Gastronomy from the Complutense University. At the present she enjoys combining her research in Spanish Art History and Spanish Museums with her passion about food in Madrid and in the Basque Country.

Héctor was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He obtained a B.A. in Architecture and Humanities and an M.S. in Historic Preservation from Columbia University, New York City, and in 1996 he studied at Rome’s International Centre for the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property. He returned to Puerto Rico to become Executive Director of Heritage Programs at the Institute of Culture, and then worked independently on research projects for historical and archaeological sites in the Caribbean. In 2003 he moved to Madrid, where he is currently working on his PhD thesis in Colonial Latin American History. Héctor has taught undergraduate courses in the History and Theory of Historic Preservation, Spanish and Latin American History, and Spanish Culture and Civilization at universities in Puerto Rico and Spain. He has a particular passion for Spanish cities and fortifications of the Middle and Early Modern ages. Héctor speaks Spanish and English fluently, and has an intermediate level of Italian.