A former Vogue cover model who made a million dollars a year at the height of her career, is now homeless and living on the streets of Barcelona.
Nastasia Urbano, 57, fronted fashion campaigns alongside supermodels like Linda Evangelista, was the face of Yves Saint Lauren’s iconic Opium perfume, and dined with Jack Nicholson and Andy Warhol in the 1980s.
However, she has fallen far since then, and now sleeps in bank foyers in the capital of north-eastern Spain’s Catalonia region.
Then and now: Nastasia Urbano, pictured left in a YSL campaign in the 1980s, and right today, made millions as a model, but has since fallen on hard times and is now homeless
Covergirl: Ms Urbano is seen on the cover of Spanish Vogue at the height of her career
At the age of 20, the Spanish beauty had already been on the cover of magazines like Vogue in Europe, and moved to New York where she was signed by the famous Ford Models agency.
She enjoyed huge success on both sides of the Atlantic, and lived a life that most people could only dream of.
She said: ‘I did all the magazines, I was loved by everybody. I was given a million dollars a year for only 20 days of work, for three or four years.
‘I was having dinner one day with Jack Nicholson, the following day with Andy Warhol or even Roman Polanski. I was in parties with Melanie Griffith, Don Johnson, and Simon and Garfunkel.
‘I was about to go to Madonna’s wedding to Sean Penn because [US actor] David Keith was invited and I was dating him at that time, but that day we got up with a hangover and couldn’t get up. I had everything, I was living like a queen.’
New life: Ms Urbano says she stays with friends when she can, but also sleeps in bank foyers across Barcelona
At the top: When she was working as a model in New York, she would party with Melanie Griffith and dine with Jack Nicholson and Andy Warhol
Ms Urbano is seen posing in a fashion spread for American Vogue in the mid-late 1980s
The Spanish model is seen in a campaign for Nancy Heller at a time when she said she was making a million dollars per year
Ms Urbano says her life changed after she met the man who became her husband and father of her children.
She claims she funded their lifestyle, and that eventually he ‘left her with nothing but the clothes on her back’.
She added: ‘The only good thing from that relationship has been my children, the rest was horrible.
‘He paid for everything with my money. Only two days after knowing him, he wanted me to buy a BMW and I, like a fool, I signed a cheque. I was in love..’
Ms Urbano, who suffers from depression, says she has been evicted from a series of homes because she could not pay the rent.
She now alternates between sleeping on friends’ sofas and in bank foyers where automated doors give customers access to cash machines.
She said: ‘I want to live, not just survive. I am tired of surviving and asking for money. The people around me have gone away, everybody goes away and I am not surprised.
‘I want my children to see me well. I want to recover as a person and to be OK, so they can be proud of me.’
Lost it all: Ms Urbano claims her ex-husband ‘left her with nothing but the clothes on her back’
In recovery: The 57-year-old, who has several children by her former husband, says she wants her children to see her healthy again and be proud of her
Nastasia started her fashion career in Barcelona and went on to model for top brands such as Revlon and Yves Saint Laurent, making the cover of Vogue in 1981.
After hearing about her current plight, a group of her former colleagues has decided to do what they can to help her get back on her feet.
Former fellow model Ruth Schuler said: ‘It has left me in shock. Nobody expected this. We were at princess level, but she, she was at goddess level.
‘I remember her as an introverted person, very beautiful and very generous with others. We are gathering more people. The first thing is to talk to her, know how she is and what she needs.’
And another former model, Hernando Herrera, said: ‘She has lot of things to give to the fashion world.
‘She could do a lot of things, not only model, but also conferences, fashion speeches and other activities.
‘I am ready to teach her and talk with photographers and agencies so that she can work again.’