There are images that summarize an era better than any speech. This summer, in La Mareta, that image has three legs: a tripod.
Pedro Sánchez once again chooses Lanzarote to spend a few days of rest. But this time he does so with a reinforced and redoubled security device that has caught the attention of those who know the residence and its surroundings. For the first time, tripods become the protagonists of presidential holidays.
And it is no coincidence.
When a president needs to visibly reinforce his security, one has to wonder if the problem is outside the fences or if, on the contrary, it responds to the political moment he is going through.
The difference with last summer is enormous. In just twelve months, current events have been marked by the conviction of Ábalos, the conviction of Koldo, the conviction of Cerdán, the conviction of the Attorney General of the State. In short, by judicial proceedings affecting people closest to the president. His wife faces judicial proceedings and his brother has been convicted of administrative prevarication with a sentence of disqualification. A scenario that is hardly unprecedented for a sitting Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, the Canary Islands continue to wait.
Pateras continue to arrive on our coasts. Our ports and emergency services continue to bear enormous migratory pressure. And those who truly sustain this reality are the Civil Guard, the National Police, Maritime Rescue, the Red Cross, and dozens of volunteers who work every day with professionalism, humanity, and, too often, with insufficient resources. They deserve all our recognition.
However, the president will once again enjoy a few days in La Mareta, an exceptional place that he seems to visit more often to rest than to listen to the demands of a land that claims more attention throughout the year.
It is inevitable that many Canary Islanders wonder if the Canary Islands are a strategic territory for the Government or simply a magnificent holiday destination.
And perhaps that is why the tripods are much more than a security element. They are the metaphor of a legislature marked by distrust, wear and tear, and the permanent need to protect oneself from political noise.
Now all that remains is to know if Zapatero, the PSOE's talisman, will copy Pedro Sánchez, and place tripods in his Famara residence. The good part about Zapatero is that it will serve to hang jewelry.
What is clear is that at the end of the summer, the tripods will be dismantled, but what really needs to be dismantled is this misgovernment.