The Maspalomas International Tourism Forum opened its doors this Monday after a two-year hiatus due to a change in management, with local authorities assuming full responsibility for the organization. Everything was ready: an impeccable stage, speakers, a carefully curated agenda… and the perfectly choreographed absence of much of Las Palmas' business elite. A lovely detail, very much in keeping with those who confuse leadership with a reserved seat.
It's worth remembering that the forum was scheduled months ago. Months. Not days. Not weeks. Months. But of course, how inappropriate for Maspalomas to organize something without asking Las Palmas for permission. Nothing less was expected from the people of Las Palmas, always so predictable: if the south makes a move, they pull the rug out from under them. Heaven forbid anyone should think that Gran Canaria doesn't revolve around Triana.
The snub wasn't accidental. It was surgical. The employers' association, the business representatives, and the high-ranking officials with signing authority—that signature they're so quick to use when it comes to getting their picture taken—decided to stay home. Or at some luncheon. Or anywhere but where the future of the island's tourism, the industry that feeds them, was actually being debated. Bravo. A display of exemplary commitment. At the same time as the opening, Banco Santander was holding a tourism event in Las Palmas, and there were the people from Las Palmas with interests in Maspalomas.
The irony is clear: those who later preach unity, collaboration, and an island-centric vision chose to boycott the main tourism forum of the year because it was being held in Maspalomas. And of course, that always stings: the south dictating strategy without asking permission.
In the event's corridors, the most frequently heard phrase was as subtle as it was accurate: "The south has taken note." And take note it did. Marked down, underlined, and highlighted with fluorescent sticky notes. Because when, in a few months, those same absentees reappear to peddle their skating, promote sports projects for Fitur 2026, or beg for attention in the very territory they turned their backs on today, they're in for a surprise: the memory of southern Gran Canaria is long, and patience is short. This snub doesn't just expose a hidden conflict; it makes it explicit. It speaks volumes about how some people understand Gran Canaria. The Maspalomas Forum didn't need microphones to highlight this. The empty chairs were enough.
