Antes Rey que hermano

Nos hemos despertado con la noticia de que S.M. el Rey, Felipe VI, ha desposeído del título de Duquesa de Palma a su hermana, S.A.R. la Infanta Cristina.

No voy a reproducir ni repetir lo que en todos los diarios se haya escrito, sino contar una anécdota que me ocurrió hace casi 21 años y que me hizo ver al actual Rey como está demostrando ser en el cargo que hoy ocupa desde hace casi un año.

Nos hemos de remontar al año 1994, cuando el Servicio Militar todavía era obligatorio y duraba 9 meses, de los cuales yo llevaba ya cumplidos unos tres, en Porto Pi (Palma de Mallorca), sede de la Comisión Naval de Regatas. Básicamente, lo que hacíamos era entrenar para navegar y competir en los barcos de regatas que la Armada posee, pero también preparar, mantener y dar apoyo logístico a otros barcos de recreo de la Armada usados por oficiales, etc... 

Precisamente el Aifos ("Sofía" escrito al revés), el barco en el que navegaba el entonces Príncipe Felipe junto a oficiales de la Armada, era uno de los barcos a los que dábamos servicio. Lo acabábamos de montar y pintar (bueno, de la pintura se encargaba un pintor profesional) para la Copa del Rey, y faltaba un trabajo bastante tedioso: pasar tacos con lija de agua por todo el casco. De este modo se consigue ese aspecto brillante y "cristalino" que tienen los barcos de regata, pero sobretodo se hace para que el barco se deslice mejor por el agua. Es un trabajo fácil (aunque se tiene que hacer bien) pero engorroso, pues se lija bajo un chorro de agua para que la lija se deslice mejor y para que se vaya desaguando la pintura lijada, que acaba pringando al lijador, sin remedio, pues se hace a mano y chorretones de agua con pintura van deslizándose por el brazo.

Como mano de obra sobraba (éramos no menos de veinte marineros de reemplazo en ese momento) y además estábamos dispuestos a hacerlo, los oficiales que iban a navegar, superiores nuestros dentro del escalafón militar, nos dijeron que ya podíamos empezar. Pero ahí estaba el patrón del barco, Don Felipe, que ante la sorpresa generalizada, les dijo que no, que ya que eran ellos los que iban a navegarlo, que se pusieran ellos. Y dicho y hecho: se sacó la gorra, cogió un taco y se puso a lijar él mismo. Los demás oficiales, con cara de circunstancias, no pudieron sino imitarle.

Y ahí les tenemos a todos, la tripulación del Aifos en pleno, oficiales de la Armada incluyendo al heredero de la corona de España y futuro jefe del Estado, lija te lija, pringándose de arriba abajo, mientras un grupo de marineros de 2ª (ese era nuestro rango), mirábamos cómo lo hacían.

Cuando terminaron, además, nos dio las gracias, se despidió de todos y se marchó (supongo que a ducharse). Los oficiales, pues no tan simpáticos, no tan atentos (medio entendible, pues en el escalafón militar nos separaba un mundo) y desde luego no tan contentos, también se marcharon, supongo que primero a la ducha.

Con esto se ganó el respeto y admiración de todos, que lo estuvimos comentando durante bastante tiempo. 

Esta es sólo una anécdota pero que he querido recordar ahora cuando ha puesto los intereses de la institución que preside y los de todo el país por delante de su relación con su hermana. No hace falta ser monárquico para admirarle por ello, aunque sea visto como un movimiento egoísta para "auto proteger" la institución de la monarquía, aunque yo lo veo más como cumplir con la palabra dada. Y lo que este país necesita, ahora más que nunca, es tener a personas en cargos de responsabilidad (empezando por los políticos) que no sólo tengan esa actitud de cumplir sino que no antepongan sus intereses personales o familiares por encima de los del cargo que ocupan y de las personas a las que representan. Y ahora mismo, de esos son de los que nos hacen falta, tengan la ideología que tengan.

New Law perpetrated by Spanish Government

As a deference to visitors who do not understand Spanish, I will eventually be writing in English and, when time allows, I will post translations into Spanish.

Como deferencia a los visitantes que no entienden Español, postearé en Inglés y, cuando el tiempo me lo permita, postearé también sus traducciones al Español.

Last Saturday, October 17th, one day after my birthday but with no relation whatsoever, there was a big demonstration in Madrid to protest against the new law of abortion that the Government wants to pass. I will not discuss about the figures of demonstrators (that vary from a “specialized” agency of a mere 55.316 attendants to the organizers’ figure of more than a million people). Looking at the pictures, nobody can deny that there was A LOT of people. And more people, like myself, that couldn’t attend. But just for the records: more than 400 buses from all over Spain, several chartered planes and many trains full, not to mention people (like my sister, who drove more than 600 kms to be there) that used private means of transport. That alone surpasses the figure given by this specialized agency (specialized in lying, if you allow me). And, on top of that, I guess, somebody from Madrid itself may have joined the demonstration...

Aerial view of the demonstration.

Also, I don’t want to argue whether a baby is a baby from the moment of conception, the moment of birth or any moment in between. For me it is clear: the transformation from whatever into a human being happens with conception, not after in a random moment. Therefore, to abort is to kill a human being (not only a “living being” like Ms. Aido, Minister of Equality (sic) and promoter of this law, has said). If it is a living being, and there seems to be no dispute about that, it has to be human, of course. There are many aspects in this law that are very wrong, like the fact that girls of 16 years can freely abort without not only the consent but also the knowledge of their parents. In adition, currently abortion in Spain is a crime, only that there is a law that allows in certain cases for a woman to abort. With the new law, abortion will no longer be a crime but a right. Nice move!

My complaints now are two: one is that it leaves the woman and the woman only to decide: there is no room for the baby’s father to say anything. But even more, the only decision the woman can take is to abort. This law does not help women, babies or families with problems with anything other than killing the baby. Imagine a family with no resources to raise a child, or a child who will be born with some defect: this law helps to get rid of “the problem”, not to find alternative solutions, assistance to families or a fast and easy way to adopt babies from families that for whatever the reason will not be able or willing to raise them.
The second complaint is that this is not a battle for ideologies right/left, or for feminists or for progressists. It is a fact that every time there is a voluntary abortion a child is killed into the until recently safest place on Earth for him/her (its mother’s womb). Abortion defendants call them simply “tissue”, like if you have a tumor and the doctors help you get rid of it. But the truth, the sad truth, is that many women are not too sure of what they face when they abort, and when they do it is too late and they have to live with the guilt for the rest of their lives, many falling into long and deep depressions. All because they lack information. Why are defendants so scared to fully inform and tell the truth about this? Why there were complaints when a school showed their teenage students pictures of what abortion is, with fetuses cut into pieces or burnt? Is it too cruel? To commit abortions is not cruel and to show the results is? How normal is this?

Just to finish today’s thoughts, a message for those who believe that I, being a man, can not understand and should not intervene in this debate. Well, if that was the case, can’t I demonstrate for any other genocide or foreign war? Can’t I complain for the killing of baby seals by Canadians or whales by Japanese? Because for the same reasons, since I am not a Canadian nor Japanese, I can not understand the problems and should refrain from even expressing my opinions. And I should also stop giving my help to Caritas and to Médecins Sans Frontières, and when I go to church, I should stop praying for those who suffer. But I won’t, because, for the time being, there is still room for me to do and to say what I believe correct.

El pasado sábado, 17, un día después de mi cumpleaños pero sin ninguna relación con el mismo, hubo una gran manifestación en Madrid para protestar contra la nueva ley del aborto que el Gobierno quiere aprobar. No quiero discutir sobre las cifras de manifestantes (que van desde los de una agencia “especializada” de unos meros 55.316 asitentes a la cifra de los organizadores de más de un millón de personas). Mirando las fotos, nadie puede negar que había UN MONTÓN de gente. Y mucha más gente, como yo mismo, que no pudo asisti But just for the records: more than 400 buses from all over Spain, several chartered planes and many trains full, not to mention people (like my sister, who drove more than 600 kms to be there) that used private means of transport. That alone surpasses the figure given by this specialized agency (specialized in lying, if you allow me). And, on top of that, I guess, somebody from Madrid itself may have joined the demonstration...

Also, I don’t want to argue whether a baby is a baby from the moment of conception, the moment of birth or any moment in between. For me it is clear: the transformation from whatever into a human being happens with conception, not after. Therefore, to abort is to kill a human being (not only a “living being” like Ms. Aido, Minister of Equality (sic) and promoter of this law, has said. If it is a living being, and there seems to be no dispute about that, it has to be human, of course. There are many aspects in this law that are very wrong, like the fact that girls of 16 years can freely abort without not only the consent but also the knowledge of their parents. In adition, currently abortion in Spain is a crime, only that there is a law that allows in certain cases for a woman to abort. With the new law, abortion will no longer be a crime but a right. Nice move!

My complaints now are two: one is that it leaves the woman and the woman only to decide: there is no room for the baby’s father to say anything. But even more, the only decision the woman can take is to abort. This law does not help women, babies or families with problems with anything other than killing the baby. Imagine a family with no resources to raise a child, or a child who will be born with some defect: this law helps to get rid of “the problem”, not to find alternative solutions, assistance to families or a fast and easy way to adopt babies from families that for whatever the reason will not be able or willing to raise them.
The second complaint is that this is not a battle for ideologies right/left, or for feminists or for progressists. It is a fact that every time there is a voluntary abortion a child is killed into the until recently safest place on Earth for him/her (its mother’s womb). Abortion defendants call them simply “tissue”, like if you have a tumor and the doctors help you get rid of it. But the truth, the sad truth, is that many women are not too sure of what they face when they abort, and when they do it is too late and they have to live with the guilt for the rest of their lives, many falling into long and deep depressions. All because they lack information. Why are defendants so scared to fully inform and tell the truth about this? Why there were complaints when a school showed their teenage students pictures of what abortion is, with fetuses cut into pieces or burnt? Is it too cruel? To commit abortions is not cruel and to show the results is? How normal is this?

Just to finish, this is the exact reproduction of a foetus 12 weeks old looks like. Does it look just like tissue or more like a tiny little baby to you?