There is a question that I often ask myself since I started in politics: “What makes a municipality a truly good place to live?” Since then, headlines often focus on large infrastructures: a historic paving plan that reaches our towns, a City Council with sound finances, the renovation of playgrounds, or the promotion of pioneering projects, such as the installation of solar panels in municipal buildings to move towards energy self-sufficiency.
All of this is visible today in Teguise. However, over the years I have found a very clear answer: a municipality is better when it puts people at the center. A municipality that accompanies families at all stages of life: when children are born, when they grow up, when work responsibilities arrive, and also when our parents or grandparents begin to need more support.
This way of understanding management was not born when I became Mayor. For twenty-six years, I had the privilege of accompanying hundreds of families from my nursery school before becoming mayor. There I learned that caring was not just about looking after a child, but about giving peace of mind to their parents, helping them balance work and family life, and offering them the support they needed.
Today I still believe exactly the same thing. Teguise is a stronger municipality in work-life balance, which accompanies families at all stages of life, from the care of our little ones with the largest network of early childhood centers on the island and their eco-canteens, to the care of our elders. Needs change, but our responsibility remains: to build a municipality that cares for people and their families.
During this term, we have taken decisive steps to consolidate Teguise as a municipality of care. The works for the first island residence for the elderly, in Tahiche, are already very advanced and reflect the commitment of the Cabildo, with the arrival of Coalición Canaria and people like Marci Acuña, to an island that cares. However, its true value goes far beyond the building itself; it is about offering peace of mind to families, about facilitating work-life balance when care becomes more complex.
Focusing on our elders does not only mean attending to those who need support, it also means taking care of those who care, those daughters, sons, partners, and family members who dedicate their time, their energy, and a large part of their lives. Our responsibility as an administration is to offer them peace of mind, give them options and answers. This priority is part of my roadmap.
That is why, in this legislature, we have promoted the first Family Respite Center in Teguise in Guatiza and a second one in Tao. Two resources aimed at supporting families, facilitating work-life balance, and offering caregivers the peace of mind of knowing that their loved ones are well cared for while they have time for their own responsibilities and needs.
However, a true municipality of care goes far beyond large infrastructures. It acts long before our elders reach a state of dependency; it is about offering an active, healthy, and dignified old age to those who gave everything for us; it is about generating opportunities for our elders to continue being autonomous, participatory, and independent for as long as possible.
That is the philosophy that guides the policies of the Elder Area in Teguise, with a great colleague like Nereyda who lives and feels her work. Throughout the year, we promote a wide program of sports, cultural, and leisure activities adapted to the needs of our elders: programs such as Aquagym; the Neurolimpiadas, which combine physical activity and cognitive stimulation; initiatives such as walking football or Canarian ball, which promote exercise and coexistence; workshops, cultural gatherings, and proposals that promote active aging in all our towns.
We work so that our elders continue to be protagonists of the municipality's life, participating in popular festivals, community activities, and neighborhood gatherings where they share experiences, traditions, and values with the new generations. In a territory as extensive as Teguise, and with the uniqueness of La Graciosa, we adapt programs to each population center. We collaborate with other administrations to guarantee equal opportunities, promoting initiatives such as assisted therapies with dogs in the Day Centers throughout the municipality.
Definitely, Teguise is moving forward in being a municipality that cares and that is, without a doubt, one of the achievements of this legislature, to be there for those who have given everything for us.
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