As the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words." And yet, not all should be taken lightly. The recent welcome event for new medical and nursing residents in Lanzarote, held on June 11, a moment that should have been imbued with institutional solemnity, professional hope, and ethical neutrality, became a carefully designed postcard for a use that transcends healthcare. Because when a photograph serves more to prop up a political narrative than to reflect academic success, something has gone astray. What a coincidence to find the CC councilor of the Cabildo at an event of the Health Area Management. Surely it was pure coincidence, like when one bumps into a friend at a meeting they weren't invited to. And since we're here...
The Lanzarote Health Services Management, attached to the Canary Islands Health Service, organized this event in the Plenary Hall of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, thereby giving way to an unnecessary, and perhaps intentional, confusion between different but "friendly" institutions. Because yes, although it may seem minor or ceremonial, the place matters. The plenary hall of the Cabildo is not a neutral space; it is the political symbol par excellence of the primary island institution, a forum reserved for political debate, for democratic representation, for public decisions. Turning it into a stage for the promotion of another entity dependent on the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands is, at the very least, an opportunistic use of the symbolic value of the public.
This is not a criticism against the celebration of the event or against the new residents, who deserve all the welcome and recognition possible. It is a criticism of the staging of the power of the Canarian Coalition, of that temptation, as habitual as it is worrying, to mix politics with technical management, and to put people, especially young professionals, as a backdrop to an institutional narrative that ultimately seeks sympathies, votes, and patronage.
It is not the same to receive residents in a health center, in an assembly hall in the Youth Center, in a cultural space such as the auditorium of Jameos del Agua, or even in the assembly hall of the Island Council itself, as it is to do so in the epicenter of political power on the island. Symbolism is not innocent. And even less so when the figure of the health manager, who at one point affirmed to me in a meeting "not to be a politician, but a manager," acts precisely as just another member of CC, aligning himself with discourses in the media after I make public the complaints of workers and users. That double game, that incoherence, undermines the credibility of public management and blurs the lines between the technical and the partisan.
We are facing a subtle but serious phenomenon: the instrumentalization of the institutional image to generate political capital, something very "normalized" in the "rancid" politics of Lanzarote. In this case, the image of young doctors and nurses has been used in an educational and professional event as a visual and emotional support for a specific political structure. This is not only ethically questionable, but also violates the principle of impartiality and institutional respect.
The citizenry deserves clarity and respect, but above all the new professionals, even more so. They cannot be used as extras in a representation where the script is written by interests alien to their vocation. Sometimes, the problem is not in the act, but in the setting. And when the plenary hall of an island corporation is chosen to welcome health residents, a message is being sent: "this is also ours." When it is not, since it belongs to everyone.
Respect for institutions begins by not using them as a backdrop for partisan interests. Because if there is one thing our healthcare system needs, especially on an island like Lanzarote, it is management, humanity, resources, and commitment. But, above all, it needs ethical coherence, the kind that is lost when roles are confused and public symbols are used as trampolines for visibility.
This is not an article against anyone in particular, but a call to collective political responsibility. Politics can inspire, but it can also contaminate if it seeps in where it shouldn't. May we not see in a political hall those who are there to train in the noble art of caring for lives.