[TYPO3-templavoila] t3lib_div::xml2array choking on characters

[Antonio Reher]

Hi:
I have this flex stored in the database:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes" ?>
<T3FlexForms>
    <data>
        <sheet index="sDEF">
            <language index="lDEF">
                <field index="field_imagen">
                    <value index="vDEF">cab_peq_referencias_07.jpg</value>
                    <value index="vEN">cab_peq_referencias_en_07.jpg</value>

                </field>
                <field index="field_titulo">
                    <value index="vDEF">Prestadores de Servicios de Certificación</value>
                    <value index="vEN">Certification Service Providers</value>
                </field>
                <field index="field_texto">
                    <value index="vDEF">somevalue</value>

                    <value index="vEN">somevalue</value>

                </field>
            </language>
        </sheet>
    </data>
</T3FlexForms>

when I retrieve it from the database and run t3lib_div::xml2array on it, 
I get this error:
Line 11: Invalid character
which I think refers to the ó... I've tried various solutions to this, 
but nothing seems to work...
has anybody run into this issue?

Thanks,
Antonio