If we had to define the election night at the headquarters of the Popular Party in Arrecife in musical terms, the expression chosen would undoubtedly be 'in crescendo'. The spirits have been in crescendo as the count advanced at the national level and the PP placed itself as the first force with a victory much more comfortable than that predicted by the latest polls. The joy, the chants, the euphoria and even the tears have also been in crescendo when, against all odds, even his own, Joel Delgado was proclaimed senator for Lanzarote. "Serenity, intelligence, common sense have prevailed," said the island president of the popular party, Astrid Pérez.
The Popular Party has gone from December to June from the third to the first political force on the island, both in Congress and in the Senate. In that first chamber, they have achieved 28.3% of the ballots, with 14,281 votes. That is, they have gained 3,166 more votes since 20-D. Delgado's candidacy to the chamber of territorial representation has obtained 26.8% of the support and 13,131 votes, remaining 1,306 votes behind the PSOE candidate, Ariagona González, who once again remained in second place. With that number of ballots, Delgado has surpassed by more than 3,200 votes the one who was the 'popular' candidate in December, the former senator Óscar Luzardo, who suffered a debacle on 20D with respect to 2011. In addition, to the "great joy" for the results on the island we must add the "satisfaction" for the 137 deputies that the PP has obtained throughout Spain.
And the satisfaction for all these joys was also appreciated at the party headquarters on Portugal Street in Arrecife. The evening began quietly, with just a dozen militants, among whom were the candidate for the Senate and the island president of the party, Astrid Pérez, shortly after the closing of the polling stations. In those first moments of the count, they all seemed optimistic, but making great differences between what they expected at the national level and at the island level. From the state point of view, they were all convinced of their victory. The situation was different in the Senate square and Delgado himself pointed out to La Voz that, although they had "good feelings" after his campaign touring the island in a caravan, a second position would be a "very good result", almost taking for granted that Podemos would snatch that seat from him. Finally, neither one prediction nor the other has been fulfilled.
Chants and hugs with the results at the national level
The joy began to spread to those present as the counting of the votes for Congress advanced rapidly and the PP was climbing positions. The first outburst of shouts and applause came when the Socialist Party dropped below the 90 deputies it obtained in December, which led them to a clear conclusion: Pedro Sánchez will have to step aside and "let the PP govern". The 'in crescendo' of the celebration continued its course when, almost with the national scrutiny to Congress finished, the map of Spain has been almost completely blue. "How beautiful, how beautiful!", shouted the president, Astrid Pérez, who already advanced that the night had to end in "party". The PP anthem then sounded for the first time, the first of many throughout the night.
The headquarters of the Popular Party was gradually filling with supporters, affiliates and public officials, such as the Councilor for Urban Planning of Tías, who arrived jumping, to then merge into hugs with his colleagues, celebrating the result to Congress. The same scene was repeated with the arrival of Salvador Martínez, who was in the fifth place on the list for Las Palmas and was received with shouts of "Salva, Salva", while he was grateful for the "piece of equipment" that has led the campaign on the island. It was 10 o'clock at night and the scrutiny of the Lanzarote seat in the Senate barely touched 17%, but already placed Delgado at the head. "It's still early, it's still early," he repeated, but the nervousness was evident in his restless movements from one side of the room to the other.
"We expected a better result, but being the first force has been a joy"
The counting of the ballots to the Senate has passed between celebrations and chants, with the anthem of the party sounding at full volume, to verify that, also in Lanzarote, they had been in the first position in votes to Congress. "We expected better results than 20-D, but being the first force for us has been a great joy," said Pérez, amid ovations from an already crowded room. "Thanks to the citizens of Lanzarote and La Graciosa, who have massively supported us, we will not disappoint them."
While the revelry continued, the scrutiny to the Senate continued to bring good news for Joel Delgado. Already with 80% of the count, the popular candidate took more than 1,000 votes to the socialist aspirant. Delgado, however, had been out of sight for some time. Nervous, he preferred to wait to "have it safe" before appearing before his party colleagues and the media that were already waiting for him, according to some militants. His absence has contrasted then with an unexpected presence at the headquarters of the PP, the president of the Cabildo, Pedro San Ginés (of CC), to congratulate the winners. "Pedrito!", exclaimed Ástrid Pérez, while hugging him and San Ginés congratulated him.
"We had possibilities, but we did not imagine winning in a comfortable way"
Almost at the same time that San Ginés left the premises, Delgado arrived again, who was received with cheers of "Joey, Joey, Joey, senator" by his party colleagues, who crowded to hug him and congratulate him. "I have no words, and that in me is rare," he began by saying. The already elected senator has given "thanks to the people of Lanzarote and La Graciosa for their support, their affection and their love, and especially for how well they have treated us in the campaign, on that road, in those 1,200 kilometers that we have done with the caravan", and also to his party colleagues. To the citizens, he has thanked "above all for being worthy of their trust, their respect, during the next 4 years with a lot of work, with a lot of effort and above all fulfilling what we have promised".
Delgado has admitted to being "a little surprised" by the triumph. "We had possibilities, but we did not imagine winning in a comfortable way," he said, although he did emphasize that his 8-day tour in a motorhome was "very well received." "It has not been the typical boring campaign," he added.
On the other hand, he has affirmed that his "priority" will be to start working "from tomorrow itself, although we have not taken possession". Among some of the aspects for which to work he has alluded to an "independent Port Authority" for Lanzarote, to work "in Coasts, which matter a lot in Lanzarote and La Graciosa" and, in general, to work "hand in hand with each of the mayors and the president of the Cabildo so that Lanzarote in 4 years is a much better island".
"Nobody wanted to play it with a party that did not know what it was going to do"
For her part, after the victory of her party, Astrid Pérez has considered that "serenity, intelligence, common sense have prevailed." This 26J, the results of PP and Podemos have been reversed in Lanzarote. Both formations have exchanged positions on the island with respect to 20D and the PP has gone from third to first force and Podemos to the reverse. In this sense, for Pérez, "these 6 months have been very important."
"The attitude that we can had since 20D has been valued by the citizens of Spain, the Canary Islands and Lanzarote. They have seen that it was not in any case what had been sold. We have seen a political party that has changed every two days, every 3 days changed its arguments, strategies and proposals. First minimum income, then no, first they wanted to leave the euro, now it was not known. I think the Spanish citizens, Canarians, Lanzaroteños, nobody wanted to play the future of the country. It has cost us a lot to enter the path of growth, it has cost us a lot to decrease in more than 1 million people the unemployment list in these last 4 years. Nobody wanted to play a card of a political party that did not know very well what it was going to do with our country", he has valued. In his opinion, the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union and the tremor that this caused on Friday in the Ibex has not had much influence on the results of the PP either. "There have been many questions, many elements, the Brexit could have been one of them, but by no means decisive," Pérez said.
