Alejandra Echevarria

Alejandra Echevarria

Taming Her Techie Habit

To Save the Environment

By ANA KRISTINE B. VALENZUELA

Published MOD APRIL2010

AT the recent Miss Earth beauty pageant held at the Boracay Ecovillage Resort and Convention Center, the most applauded, naturally, was the hometown bet, Sandra Seifert. Another candidate who captured the crowd's attention was Miss Spain, Alejandra Echevarria.

Small wonder. With her stunning good looks that remind you of local actress Dina Bonnevie and even international fashion icon Victoria Beckham, Echevarria, standing at 5'11", placed third runner up, bagging the title Miss Earth-Fire as well as the Miss Gandang Ricky Reyes Award.

Alejandra, 20, told MOD that she was supposed to compete at the Miss International pageant, but she chose Miss Earth instead. And no, it’s not because she felt pressured to bring home the Miss International crown because Spain had won it the previous year, according to rumors. “My position as Miss Spain was actually for the Miss International pageant, but I identified more with the Miss Earth pageant. I chose to join Miss Earth because I liked the goals of the pageant and because I wanted to know the Philippines.”

Her modelling career started when she won a beauty contest in her native Jaén, a city in South Central Spain. She then represented her state at the Miss Spain pageant where she won second runner-up. “After I won the crown, I was working all the time-- joining parades, attending photoshoots, and, granting interviews, which for me served as preparation for the international contest.”

Apart from being a beauty queen and model, Alejandra is also a singer. For two years, she was part of a hip-hop group she formed with friends. “I love music. I have thousands of favorite songs--one is in Spanish called Ador, sung by David Bisbal and Naim Tomas; and Hate You by Mariah Carey,” she says.

Recently, she added beauty ambassador as one of her job titles as top makeup brand Ever Bilena signed her on as one of its endorsers.

Of course, she still has advocacies she dutifully attends to. “My modeling agency organizes many charitable and humanitarian parades for children with disabilities, and implements programs to save the environment,” she says.

A graduate of Business Administration and Management, Alejandra still wants to study another course in Madrid. She says, “Really, I believe that if you have an organized agenda, you can do two things simultaneously, like modeling and studying.”

We bet she could.

Tech Talk with Alejandra

What gadgets can you not live without?

My mobile phone is my life, and my music gadgets.

Do you consider yourself a techie?

I like technology and the modern things enough, but I control myself. If I often buy a new mobile phone, it does no favor to the environment. Things should always be of suitable use and then everything will be ok.

Are you eager to own the latest products?

I admire the person who manages to create these new machines and perfect them. Since, as I’ve said, too many things could contaminate the environment, I am content with just one in hand. Makeup is my better ally. I always bring it with me. With makeup, I like to have the latest, and Ever Bilena is the best. I recommend that to the whole world.

If ever you are online, what sites do you usually visit?

Tuenti, Facebook, YouTube to see Victoria’s Secret shows, www.evelyng-models.es

Do you have a Facebook account?

I do, although I'm not in the habit of logging in because there’s a similar website in Spain.

How can the technology help the environment?

Technology can help by creating products that are not harmful to the environment, of course, and developing recycling processes.