The fact that the Maspalomas Consortium has to organize "self-esteem classes" for its technical and administrative staff says a lot, and nothing good, about the organization's internal health. Is it really necessary to remind them that their work matters? Or have we been suffering for years from a lack of real leadership and commitment in the management of the main tourist destination in southern Gran Canaria?
An ordinary day in May 2025 in Sonnenland. The offices of the Maspalomas Consortium, the two-headed body that unites the Gran Canaria Island Council and the San Bartolomé de Tirajana Town Hall, opened their doors not to process paperwork, but to dispatch uncertainties. The technical and administrative staff sat in a circle, without ties or protocol, ready to confront the administration's most dangerous enemy: the fear of change.
Juan Ferrer, consultant and corporate ego tamer, was tasked with holding up a mirror to them. Not a PowerPoint presentation, not a Silicon Valley urban legend. A mirror. He spoke about leadership like someone talking about bread: without embellishment. He spoke about emotional intelligence like someone who has seen more than one boss cry when Excel crashes. And he spoke about effectiveness like someone who knows that in a technical project office, there is either method or chaos.
The training wasn't a typical short course. It was a declaration of intent. The Consortium has entered a new era, and is no longer content with patching sidewalks or sprucing up roundabouts. It now sits with Tourism, Urban Planning, and Roads and Public Works. It mingles with the Environment, goes to bed with Energy, and wakes up dreaming of the "Impulsa Maspalomas" project. Because the south needs more than sun: it needs technical muscle and long-term vision.
The event was held in person at the Sonnenland shopping center. A paradoxical location: talking about institutional transformation surrounded by franchises and parking lots. But that's also Maspalomas. Tourism, concrete, and bureaucracy sharing space with the possibility of doing things better.
The workers didn't leave with cardboard diplomas or self-help phrases glued to their foreheads. They left with something more useful: questions. How to improve workflow? How to lead without hierarchy? How to stop putting out fires and start designing solutions? The second session was on May 21, and this time it was for City Hall technicians. Not to hear a talk, but to share trenches. Because this isn't about a self-esteem course. It's about putting soul into a machine that has always operated by inertia. And when that happens, when someone in public administration decides to change from within, no system can resist. And if not, just wait and see.
