On 18 January 2025, Paco Villanueva passed away, a renowned motorcycle traveler and an important part of PauTravelMoto.

Paco can be summed up in one phrase: “those who met him, loved him”. Always, everyone. Paco was appreciated and loved with ease. He is easily remembered by his wide, sincere, permanent smile. He enjoyed people, always kind, close and attentive, always ready to help.

Paco embraced the dream of PauTravelMoto, a company of motorcycle travelers helping other motorcycle travelers make their European motorcycle travel dreams come true. He saw it clearly and “got on board” with determination.

After returning from his motorcycle trip across America, he began coming every day to the friendly workshop where we started, HRB. PauTravelMoto would not be what it is today without Paco: he passed on to us his character, his way of being in the world, his everyday smile. Beyond renting motorcycles, we have the responsibility of accompanying our clients’ travel dreams, committing ourselves to motorcycle travelers as he did from day one.

Seven intense years of shared daily life: many memories, moments, situations and anecdotes that come rushing in. Every motorcycle traveler who came by, and there were thousands, took away Paco’s smile, support, help and commitment to making their motorcycle trip a success. They arrived as customers, they left as friends.

Paco’s dream lives on and will continue to be present in every motorcycle traveler who passes through PauTravelMoto. Inevitably, his final moments were marked by illness. Despite the hardship of what he went through, Paco never lost his smile or his enthusiasm. In February 2024 we had a heartwarming moment: we celebrated his party at the Merbeyé, on the Tibidabo. It was an unforgettable night of shared tears and hugs.

In his last summer, I would like to highlight the visit that Tanya and Paco paid us in their brand-new Smart car to Carcassonne, while Isabel, Carme and I were traveling by motorcycle with a group of Colombian friends and clients. Even though his illness no longer allowed him many joys, that day Paco was beaming with enthusiasm: he had the sparkle in his eyes and the same smile, the one he kept until his last day.

Paco, I’m sure you’re already planning a route up there. Down here, we will keep riding on each of our motorcycles.

As we are sure he would have liked, we want to remember him with a few fragments of that beautiful Pedro Capó song, “La fiesta”:

Cuando me vaya, que no me lloren
Mis amigos, que no me lloren
Compren vino, no traigan flores
[…]
Varios tropiezos en el camino, pero me fue bien
Viví, cumplí con mi destino, fui lo que soñé
No me despido, mis amigos, yo vuelvo otra vez
La gente buena no se entierra, se siembra
[…]