The circus has returned to southern Gran Canaria, or rather, to the southern roads. The Department of Safety, headed by José Carlos Álamo, has put on a new show of authority: a week-long safari in the tourist areas of Maspalomas. The excuse, of course, is road safety, which always looks good in press releases. The result is worthy of a slaughterhouse: 350 drivers fined for speeding, 28 people charged with alcohol, and two for drug use. A veritable orgy of complaints.
The official report speaks of numbers. An average speed limit of 25 kilometers per hour, some careless people traveling at 80 kilometers per hour in a 40-kilometer zone. The media in Las Palmas sell it as a victory, as a cleanup of the rolling garbage. But the truth is, this is nothing more than a witch hunt, an exemplary punishment for the herd, while the party continues for the same old people.
And in this role, the tour companies get their cut. A buggy company, one of those that promise adventure and freedom, has been caught cheating. License plate changes, lack of insurance on two other vehicles. Legal proceedings for document forgery, which is no small feat. No surprise here. It's the tale of the rogue, the clever one who always finds a way to break the rules. The one who thought he was getting away with it. Also a foreign citizen, caught off guard by the machinery, who rented cars with Polish license plates.
Councilman Álamo appears in the photo promising more of the same. "Comprehensive measures," "coordination," "security." What he amounts to is the promise of more control, more fines, more spectacle for the naive. They call it strategy. I call it the same old thing. A show of force on the weakest link, while the real bigwigs swim in other waters. In the end, the roads of southern Gran Canaria are nothing more than a mirror. A reflection of the disorder and hypocrisy of tax collection.
