Zaida Acosta Mendoza is the candidate from the province of Las Palmas in the Miss Continental Spain, which will be held next July in Malaga. With a decade-long career on stage, the 28-year-old from Lanzarote is now vying to represent Spain in the Miss Continental, which will take place between October 18 and 23 in Mexico.
“As a good daughter of Venezuela”, Acosta carries the passion for beauty pageants in her blood. “In 2014 I was called to represent Lanzarote in the Miss and Mister Beauty Canary Islands, which is held in Tenerife, and I was named Miss Catwalk”. The love for galas that ran through her veins since she was a child had just multiplied.
In 2014, Acosta was the candidate from Arrecife in the Miss World Lanzarote and, in 2021, she was the second finalist in the Miss Earth Lanzarote. “Each of the contests in which I have participated has been like very different exams for me. In each of them I have learned a lot”, explains the Lanzarote native.
The Tenerife contest, the first in which Acosta participated, helped her to value the effort and commitment involved in being named Miss. “Before I didn't know the preparation behind it. I enjoyed going to see the galas, but until I participated in one, I hadn't stopped to think that it is a very sacrificial world”, acknowledges the young woman.
“Physical preparation is very important, but mental preparation is even more so. You have to love yourself a lot. And this is said by a person who always had many complexes and was quite self-destructive. If you are not comfortable with yourself in your body, you cannot go out and show off a swimsuit. Prejudices on the catwalk can be seen from afar”, says Acosta. “And if we are not able to deal with our defects, we have to go to the psychologist, which is super good therapy”, she adds.
The aspiring candidate to represent Spain in the Miss Continental intends to break down “the stereotypes” that surround current beauty pageants. “Some time ago, the ninety-sixty-ninety measurements, a certain height and a perfect face were required. But it has evolved and being Miss goes far beyond having a pretty face. I, for example, suffer quite a bit from acne and I can participate. We are asked to have a reasonably well-groomed face, self-esteem, good oratory and an average level of English”, explains Acosta.
To the younger girls who want to participate in beauty pageants, the candidate from Las Palmas to the Miss Continental Spain advises them to be themselves. “It is useless to say through a microphone that you like something when it is not really like that. They will not be happy trying to deceive the jury or themselves. Trying to have a personality that does not belong to you does not quite fit in today. Now they are looking for authentic women. And to be authentic you have to trust yourself”, concludes Acosta.
