When a few months ago the Culture Councilor of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Óscar Pérez, told me that Mr. Luis Morales was in a delicate state of health and the corporation had a debt pending with him at least since his retirement, back in 1997, I did not hesitate for a single moment to decree the beginning of the file that the councilor proposed to me, all said, at the request of the Podemos spokesperson. Immediately afterwards, I appointed him instructor with the sole and exclusive purpose of doing justice and settling said debt as soon as possible.
The file concluded with a favorable report to the proposal of the aforementioned instructor, shared both by the political organization that I represent and by the majority of the members of the corporation's plenary session. That is, that who was the head of works of the Cabildo, the hands of our most distinguished artist, and whom César Manrique declared as his disciple - given that he had posthumously received the highest award contemplated in the Regulations of Honors and Distinctions, which is that of Favorite Son - was worthy of the Gold Medal of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, the second most important distinction of all those granted by the institution.
For my part, aware of the existence of a minority of the plenary session that considered this award insufficient and faced with the threat of a blockade that could endanger the granting of this well-deserved recognition in life, I shared the controversy with the family.
I did it head-on, as I always do because I have never hidden, no matter how complicated the circumstances, exposing the situation, as it was. From the family's opinion then, out of respect for them and the complicated emotional moment they were living and undoubtedly live, they will allow me to reserve the details, but I must say that they showed maximum cordiality and gratitude at all times despite the painful situation. Therefore, from these lines, I reiterate my most sincere respect, recognition and wishes of strength to all.
I do apologize to them for the public clarification that all those who, instead of showing satisfaction that, finally, justice was done to the work of Mr. Luis Morales with an official recognition from the institution, have gone so far as to launch the accusation that "a greater honor has been denied to him by this political leadership".
I'm sorry, but it's not like that. On the contrary, it is precisely now when it is granted to him because, previously, those same people denied it to him or at least did not grant or promote any during the 20 years in which they have had the opportunity to do so. Especially, when the Tourist Centers were already fully built, in 1995 the titles of Favorite Son were awarded to Mr. César Manrique and Mr. José Ramírez Cerdá, and to Mr. Jesús Soto as Adoptive Son of Lanzarote in 2002, Mr. Luis Morales was already retired, thus losing the best opportunity to extend this or another recognition such as the one now, to our recent Gold Medal if they considered it so much.
Some were then at the head of the institution as a political organization, others who are now tearing their clothes I don't know where they were then, although I do know where they were not, but presumably where they have always been and where unfortunately I presume they will continue to be: conspiring and plotting from their particular watchtower to do politics from outside of it, disguised as something else. Because no one should be fooled, what has always moved them is nothing other than power and political control over the legitimate representatives of the people that they once had and cannot bear to have lost.
No one has denied honors to Mr. Luis Morales, it is just the opposite. I reiterate that it is now, 20 years after his retirement, when finally he has been granted what then and during all these years no one did. And I am very proud to have promoted it, even if it was late. I am left with the consolation that, at least, he was able to know the news in life, through his children who, according to what they tell me, welcomed it with the gratitude, humility and extraordinary sense of humor that led his life.
For a generational issue, I did not have the honor or the joy of personally knowing Mr. Luis Morales well and it was perhaps on his deathbed when I exchanged the most words with him. Just a few, but enough to corroborate the deep love he felt for Lanzarote and how he gave his life until the day of his death, to improve it with his own hands. In his last hours he was still enthusiastically thinking about how to restore the "Casa del Cabrerón", which he read we had visited, or the Insular Hospital itself, respecting its facade, of which he also had news of its future remodeling, offering himself and showing his desire to collaborate and, as he himself told me, "to count on him as soon as he regained his health"; to give just a few examples of the greatness of this man.
Eternal thanks, Mr. Luis, for having given so much to Lanzarote and forgive us if we did not know how to recognize it before or it was insufficient. I promise that very soon we will also amend that. Rest in peace, wherever you are.
