Taking as an example the current stir that has been created around the works for the "revitalization" of the commercial area of Playa Honda (which I see as a "waste" of public money), I have come to the conclusion that our politicians very easily forget who put them there, and who they work for. They have lost the notion that they work for and for the people.
Therefore, the statements of our mayoress are surprising, saying that "resistance to change is natural." No, my esteemed fellow citizen. If there is majority resistance to change, You, ultimately, are responsible for preventing the people from being forced to accept an imposition they do not want. That is Democracy, no matter how much some may dislike it.
As happened with the San Bartolomé traffic plan, the gentleman or lady (in the interest of equality) who drafts these plans must disregard everything that is practical or safe for citizens and unilaterally impose what he or she thinks is the best way to do things.
It doesn't matter if the neighbor has to double the road to get to his house, with the consequent increase in fuel costs; or that he has to make a thousand "Stops" in alleys without visibility or capacity for such traffic, with the evident increase in danger to traffic; all for the "good" of the neighbor. Only none of the aforementioned neighbors see any improvement in their situation, and after all, that is what it is about, isn't it?
Who ultimately pays for the extra fuel cost?, or who is responsible if there is an accident in which (God forbid) personal or material damage is suffered? No one. And that problem is what afflicts the entire Spanish political landscape, the coffee for everyone has become fashionable. It doesn't matter how much it costs and whether it is needed or not. Furthermore, like the famous monkeys who do not see, do not hear, and do not speak, our leaders insist on carrying out concepts that have failed miserably in other places. Of course, since no one asks for accountability at the end of the term, what does it matter if the nonsense carried out has served any purpose or not?
See the example of Arrecife: all the merchants asked the City Council not to undertake the pedestrianization of Calle Real. Did they listen? Of course not. Was the operation a success? Well, of course not either.
I am not a civil engineer or a specialist in the "revitalization" of towns, but I realize that the success of, for example, shopping centers lies in three things: there is parking, you can walk under cover, and everything is in the same place. Period. There is no more. Both in Arrecife and in Playa Honda, all the parking spaces have been wiped out.
Since Playa Honda, let's not forget, is a residential area, it will not be possible to put all the shops together either. And I suppose (although here I may be wrong) that they will not cover Playa Honda completely... And so, out of three things, they have failed in three. I therefore predict that the fantastic intention of the governing group to turn Playa Honda into the economic engine of the municipality will fail in two things: 1st it will not work and 2nd it will considerably complicate the lives of the residents.
It cannot be denied that the politicians we have either have a God complex, or their reasoning abilities are even worse than I thought. The left wants politics to be accessible to all citizens, regardless of their origin or preparation, and the right wants everyone to be technocrats. Now I ask myself: Is it convenient that - for example - the councilor of Urbanism has no idea about his Council and does not know how to do the O with a cane? I don't think so.
Would it be convenient for all public functions to only be performed by a person with the necessary preparation for it? Well, neither, because it would significantly truncate the access of all citizens to certain positions. The problem - whose solution I do not know, I admit - is juicier than we think. I believe that the first case serves as a catalyst for corruption, and the second would promote the autocratization of politics, and here we return to the God complex.
These are obviously the limitations of our political system. We could talk for hours and hours about open lists...etc, etc., but what for? This is the system we have and we have to manage with it or actively move for it to change. For the moment, it would be enough to think about the next elections, who we want to have as mayor and whether we want to repeat with the impositions by force or not.
As much as I want, I cannot forget a quote from a famous Walt Disney movie titled "Lt. Robinson" that says "Give authority to a monkey, and he will want to be the master!"
