Manuel García Félix: "Culture is the maximum that exists in life"

The Mayor of our town, Manuel García Félix, kindly received us in his office in the old Manor House of Tirado, the current seat of the Town Hall.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
14 March 2023 Tuesday 09:53
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Manuel García Félix: "Culture is the maximum that exists in life"

The Mayor of our town, Manuel García Félix, kindly received us in his office in the old Manor House of Tirado, the current seat of the Town Hall. Civil Building Engineer and technical architect, he is, above all, a man of letters and from La Palma to the core. We tried to find out more about him with questions about his personality, a brief quick test, others about his opinion on current issues and, finally, about his municipal management.

How do you think your character is?

I consider myself an affable, empathetic, assertive person, a person who knows me, or I try to, because I start from a self-knowledge that allows me to have a social behavior in an empathic and understandable way with the society that surrounds me, especially because I am a public servant and to be a public servant you have to be very sensitive to what people need. Always starting from my self-knowledge, I look for my starting point and how far I can go, what capacities I have, what areas of improvement, what are my miseries and what are my greatness, what are my lights and what are my shadows. I believe that we have to embrace everything that we are.

How do you consider yourself familiarly?

I am a very familiar person, my family is my nucleus, my existence, my value, my principle. Everything has been fostered there, my personality, my thought has been forged based on the family. Of course the thought is forged within the family but also at school, also with friends. For me my friends are my family. A family is to act in continuous communion, in continuous help, in continuous knowledge. The family is a fundamental social nucleus in our culture, in our way of understanding life.

What kind of activities do you do with your family?

We do many things: we go to the movies, to the theater, to football, we go for a walk, we go to bars, we go to El Rocío. We live with other couples our age and the children too. We also like Holy Week, the brotherhoods, we are very brotherly people. My wife is a Big Sister of the Brotherhood of the Captive of Bollullos, my children are acolytes and Nazarenes, they are also in the youth groups of Rocío, in the youth groups of the brotherhoods of penance, of the Cristo del Perdón here in La Palma, which is my brotherhood. I have been a lifelong foreman of the Virgen de la Amargura, before I was contraguía and costalero. I have maintained what I am and I will continue to maintain it because it is my way of understanding life and feeling it.

How are your children doing in their studies? What do they want to be?

They both want to be teachers. Manuel wants to be a Music teacher, because he is a virtuoso of music-he plays the guitar, the transverse flute- and Curro, of Plastic Arts, because he is a handyman, he draws, models, makes “little steps”.

As for the studies, they are there, they are not the first or the last, they are in the temperate zone of the classroom, but, well, we are always on top of it despite the fact that they are responsible and comply with their obligation. It is good that with those ages, 15 and 10 years old, they have defined their tastes, which are still what we have and project on them. That introjection is the beliefs, the attachments, which is what forms your personality and thought.

What do you do to relax after work?

Reading and writing. I really like to read and right now I don't read as much as before. Before, I used to read a lot, but since I became mayor – and I've been mayor for 10 years – this responsibility consumes a lot of my time every day, a lot, because I have to be at the service of the people and that means I have less time for my leisure. Now I have written a gloss on Andalusia, which I am going to read at the conference that I will give on the 24th at the Institute. It also relaxes me a lot to walk and walk at dawn.

Who do you admire the most?

To my father, my father passed away.

What book are you reading now?

I am reading a book by the philosopher Javier Gomá, entitled The Image of Life, an essay about memories with his father after his death.

Now we will talk about current affairs... do you think that the aid that Europe is giving to both Syria and Ukraine is equal?

I have a position in Europe, apart from being a mayor I am a member of the European Committee of the Regions, a consultative body, similar to a European Senate where all the regions of Europe of the 27 member states are represented and where there are a number of mayors per country . Four correspond to Spain, among those 4 I am one of the mayors, in addition to the mayor of Seville, the mayor of Vigo and the mayor of Zaragoza. By this I mean that I live international politics very intensely, the only thing that happens is that we in that consultative body deal with positive issues, issues of agriculture, nature, the environment... fundamentally. Then, to the question that you ask me, I think that NATO's help to Ukraine is necessary, because Ukraine is a country that has been unfairly invaded by another, Russia, therefore I think that it is necessary help for its self-defense and that of its citizens. Therefore, I understand that NATO is here precisely to protect the integrity of the territories and the rights and freedoms of the citizens of the Member States.

Do you think that politics is partly responsible for half of the damage caused by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria? What is your opinion as an architect?

It is evident that the constructions are not adequate to the rheological and geological characteristics of the territories. For example, in Japan, which is a country that has a high per capita income and a high standard of living, but also has a very high seismic level, all the buildings are very good, when the ground moves, everything moves, with which it does not crack. However, in Turkey and Syria there is not that high constructive capacity because there are not enough resources or enough awareness for it. Then, more than this is decided in politics, it is a matter of the collegiate bodies of architects, surveyors, builders, etc.

What do you think of the use of cultural acts as a means of protest?

It saddens me that ideologies take over culture, because culture is the most that exists in life. Culture must be apolitical. Then, I understand that perhaps these acts should be purged of those claims and the claim made from a more social point of view or through the media, or on the street. I don't think that to claim the environment the best way is to stain a painting.

How many women do you know in provincial politics? Do you think the number of women in politics should be increased?

There are many and all are very good. Yes, I am a firm believer that they should be increased in all political areas. In my government team there are more women than men: five women and four men.

Who is the most recognized world leader that you have personally met?

The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, I have a certain friendship with her on the subject of my European position. I understand that she is one of the women with the greatest capacity and the most future in European politics.

What historical figure would you have liked to meet?

I would have liked to meet Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, the one who founded the Conservative Party in the Spanish restoration in 1875, which generated the greatest period of stability and political tranquility that Spain has experienced. Since the French invasion, Spain experienced a lot of confusion with the liberal pronouncements, the Carlist wars, the cantonalist and federalist revolts.

Then, Cánovas, through the establishment of the Bourbon monarchy with Alfonso XII, with the constitution of 1875 and with the system of political alternation, was able to maintain a long stage of political stability until 1923 that ended with the coup d'état of Miguel Primo. de Rivera in collusion with the king, by which the Constitution is repealed, which -until now- is the longest-lived that Spain has had. Antonio Cánovas del Castillo was Andalusian, with which we have to be very proud of his work and then, as a politician, his concept of the state seems very interesting to me, a very pure vision of Spain, very unitary from the diversity of the territories of Andalusia, from Valencia, from Castile, from Catalonia.

The top and the bottom of your political activity on La Palma.

The highest I have achieved is what I am: mayor, that is the greatest honor and it is what I always wanted to be, a public servant and help contribute to change the life of La Palma and generate opportunities and improve the lives of the citizens. That is the best thing that happens to me and I want it to continue happening to me.

The bad thing has been the management of the pandemic, life has hit us and we have had to compose ourselves.

What do you think of the natural and cultural potential of La Palma?

Culturally there is a massive response to cultural activities, practically one per month organized by the Town Hall. And environmental tourism is also impressive: the Vía Verde del Tinto, La Zorrera, our natural landscapes... We promote active tourism, seniors, winery tourism, heritage tourism and natural tourism. One of the natural bases is the Tinto river, which runs for 5 km in the municipality of La Palma, which is the most unique river in the world, due to its red waters and the living conditions it allows.

Why isn't there an urban beautification of civil figures instead of so many religious reasons?

La Palma is a town of mentality and religious feeling. Since 1927 the Heart of Jesus has been in the square bearing his name. The sculptures of María Auxiliadora, San Francisco, the Virgen del Rocío, Santa Ángela de la Cruz, the architect Pinto (who was the one who built the Church) and the statue of Cervantes, who worked as a tax collector in the County. The associations and brotherhoods are those that have strengthened the religious monuments and the City Council, the civil ones, such as that of Cervantes and that of the architect Pinto. Now we have in mind a monument that is that of Manuel Siurot, favorite son of La Palma and teacher of poor children. And also that of the Virgen del Valle, which is a sentimental and emotional demand of the people. The monuments reveal the history of the peoples.

Do you have any project about the abandoned buildings of the town, like the white flats that are close to the institute?

The City Council cannot intervene in private buildings, only in public ones. What is desirable is that they are finished building, but they belong to vulture funds and of course the city council encourages banks to finish them. Regarding the public, we are going to make the old Silo a tourist viewpoint, restaurant and museum. The Church and the Valley are going to be restored, as we already did with the Ermita del Santo, which we returned to worship, or with the Tithe, a 17th century building.

What activities or leisure spaces do you plan to increase for young people? Is a bus going to be enabled to access the cinema or the Zentrum?

The City Council The City Council carries out a leisure activity every month: the Sample of Beans with pennyroyal, the day of San Sebastián, the Spring Festival, the festival of the Three Kings, the installation of tents in the park and in the different multifunctional venues for the Christmas holidays or Carnival... We are a council that is very committed to young people and very committed to leisure for young people, also to culture, to sports, to the university, to study, to teaching, to the teaching aids. For example, the buses to the Universities of Huelva, Seville and Granada are subsidized by the City Council for those students with less financial means. We also have an extraordinary scholarship program for students who have completed their degree or 50% of their degree, and we even hire them for up to a year to do internships. With respect to putting a bus to the movies, it is an imbalance to put public resources to access private entities. Besides, if we were a municipality with more than 50,000 inhabitants and it would be economically justified to spend public money on it, but we are a municipality of 11,000 inhabitants and the law does not allow it. If these entities organized that bus, the City Council would collaborate. We have also collaborated with the institute paying half of the bus for selectivity in the last two years. Young people are our priority because you are the future of the town and the future of Villarrasa, and that of Villalba. Investing in training is investing in the future. I identify a lot with you, because I have been young and I still am, because youth is in my mind.