If only our votes counted
Imagine that in exchange for their vote Malaga MPs could demand that the government be fair to their constituency, just as the Catalan, Basque and Navarre representatives can
Ignacio Lillo
Friday, 15 September 2023, 17:31
It won't happen, at least not in the next few years; but it doesn't cost anything to dream. In Madrid, people on different ... sides are selling their souls to the devil in exchange for votes to be elected to lead the next government. In the case of the PSOE and Sumar, it's literally that, as they are capable of granting amnesty to a fugitive, without a second thought... But that makes no difference when you look at the string of rapists and abusers who have had their sentences reduced due to the 'Sólo sí es sí' (only yes is yes) law. Incidentally, the most recent of these cases benefits one of the men found guilty in the so-called 'manada' gang abuse case, which is ironic as that infamous law came about supposedly as a result of, and to prevent, cases such as that one.
So let's imagine that the system in Spain was the same as in the UK, where constituencies have MPs who put their citizens' interests before those of their party. Imagine for a moment that the PP and PSOE had no guarantee that their MPs from Malaga province would vote in their respective parties' favour. Imagine that in exchange the MPs could demand that the government be fair to their constituency, given its significant population figures and short and medium-term growth, just as the Catalan, Basque and Navarre representatives can. And this does not just apply to the investiture vote, but also to every annual budget. That's why down here we end up with the crumbs that nobody else wants, as it's embarrassing not to put anything Malaga's way, even though, as usual, promises are not kept.
If that were the case, the millions would rain down from Madrid, just as they do in the regions that do count.
To start with, in this term of office, the plans for the railway line from the airport to Marbella would be drawn up, and there might even be enough to make a start on the work. The messing about with the local Cercanías line would stop immediately, and I bet anything that we would have more trains, not just in holiday periods, but every weekend and into the early hours of the morning on a daily basis.
And what about the desalination plants to guarantee the supply of drinking water without having to gaze up at the sky in hope? The plant for the Axarquía would be finished and pumping in just a few months, and I would even dare to suggest another one would be built halfway along the Costa, in Fuengirola or Mijas, as well as the Marbella plant getting a complete overhaul.
I know that today all this is no more than a pipe dream, that it is only within reach of the more advanced societies in the north. But as poet Antonio Machado wrote: "If it is good to live, it is still better to dream, and best of all, to wake up."
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