When a well-known journalist from national television or an elite athlete takes the stage and begins to praise the beauty and magic of that place and an entire island, and it turns out that island is Lanzarote and the place is the ...
When a well-known journalist from national television or an elite athlete takes the stage and begins to praise the beauty and magic of that place and an entire island, and it turns out that island is Lanzarote and the place is the auditorium of Los Jameos del Agua, without a doubt the first sensation is one of pride, but the next thing should be a reflection on whether we are really aware of the charms that surround us.
The Sports Gala held last Monday on the island, by the Spanish Sports Press Association, has once again been a springboard for Lanzarote to jump to the pages of the media throughout the country. Especially in the specialized ones, which are sometimes the most read, as is the case of Marca, which dedicated a double page to the event.
Undoubtedly an important media promotion and another perhaps even more valuable, the word of mouth of the more than one hundred attendees, including journalists from all over Spain and prominent athletes from the national scene. But in addition, events like this should serve to remind us that this island in particular, and the Canary Islands in general, are more than deserving of the prestige they achieved in their day as a tourist destination.
Obviously, that does not mean falling into complacency or failing to see the shortcomings. In reality, it means the opposite. We must continue to be outraged when we see the deficiencies of the cruise dock or the airport. When you see how the beaches are losing sand without a remedy. When you see how many points on the coast have been destroyed by cement. When political management is undermining part of the resources of what should be a paradise for those who visit the island and, above all, for those who reside on it, who, however, face significant infrastructure deficiencies on a daily basis.
But all of this cannot give rise to a defeatist mentality or see everything as black. It is necessary to be aware of the potential that Lanzarote still has, to demand more forcefully that the institutions live up to it and do their job, but at the same time to be able to transmit to those who visit us and to potential tourists that Lanzarote is worth it. In fact, you also have to be convinced that tourism is worth it.
On many occasions, people question certain investments related to tourism promotion, due to the expense involved, without taking into account that it is essential to promote an economic sector that is vital for the future of everyone. Of those who live directly from tourism, and of those who do so indirectly.
However, some even see as an enemy what is actually a source of wealth. And the problem is not in that economic activity, but in how it has been exploited in Lanzarote.
But despite everything, sometimes the visit of someone from outside helps us to see the island with different eyes. To see the glass half full and to see what we can and must still maintain. Because what may seem like a cold and gray day to a Lanzarote resident, for a newly arrived peninsular is a pleasant morning of "warmth", if compared to the winter cold that he has left behind. And that can be extrapolated to many other things.
They say that "to be beautiful you have to believe it", that "to succeed you have to believe it", that "to be an actor you have to believe it"? Well, following that same cliché, to be a first-class tourist destination, you also have to believe it, and shout it to the four winds among everyone. To tourists, and to rulers. Especially to the latter.
Beyond the fact that the pride of the land will always be there, the people of Lanzarote often look at their island with the worst eyes, thinking that it is no longer what it was, that these or those have sunk it, that they are all the same, or that there is nothing to do or it is useless to fight.
Now, in the midst of an economic crisis and when the fat years are behind us, is when we must be more convinced and demand more that Lanzarote continue to be a "fortunate island." But first, you have to believe it
