The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, vindicated this Wednesday in Lanzarote the figure of the writer José Saramago in today's society, since he "inspires to face challenges and decisions".
This was stated by Sánchez during his speech at the celebration of the writer's centenary, which took place in 'A Casa', in Tías, where the President of the Government closed the session.
Sánchez stated that it is a "great pleasure to take advantage" of his stay on the island of Lanzarote, where he is spending a few days on vacation, to return to Saramago's house and to celebrate its reopening after having to close as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which he considered is a "further sign of hope" with which a "new time" is being approached thanks to the vaccine.
In this sense, he thanked the Foundation for the work it does in general because spaces like this are "essential and, above all, much more so today", since he pointed out that "it is not just about remembering moved by affection or even by nostalgia, but to vindicate José Saramago because all societies, especially in moments like the present, need references, especially references like José Saramago".
He added that one of the reasons for keeping alive the memory of the "great women and men is that they continue to serve as inspiration when facing" challenges and decisions, stating that in the pandemic these have been "difficult" to adopt.
Sánchez alluded to the novel 'The Stone Raft', where Saramago wrote "energies always return when hope returns', a phrase that he pointed out "many recovered during the long months of confinement", encouraging them to resist with the means at their disposal or creating new ones if necessary.
In this sense, he stressed that the Canary Islands know this "very well because they were the preferred object of instruments" that had to be created to be able to "survive", thus referring to the ERTE, the self-employed benefits, the ICO loans, the direct aid, the support to the tourism sector -citing 100 million euros for the resilience of the tourism sector in the Canary Islands-, or the five million from the sustainability plan for Lanzarote, "all essential to save jobs, companies and try to reduce the tear" that the pandemic has caused.
Faced with all this, he stated that although energies "grow more and more every day with solid and well-founded hopes".
For his part, the president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, highlighted Saramago's commitment to "beauty, aesthetics, but also a social and environmental commitment".
The event, which presented the program to commemorate this centenary, was also attended by the president of the José Saramago Foundation, Pilar del Río; and the president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo. In addition, the former President of the Government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, as well as the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, and the Government Delegate, Anselmo Pestana, among others, attended.
Outside "A Casa", several groups have also gathered, who wanted to make their demands heard before Sánchez's visit. Specifically, members of the platform of public workers "in fraud of law" have demonstrated there, shouting different slogans through a megaphone to demand their "permanence", as well as a representation of the Salvar Chira-Soria Platform, who have displayed a banner demanding "to save the Arguineguín ravine".
