La Voz de Galicia – March 16, 2018 →
The headline read “Four Municipalities in Orense Have More Streetlights than Inhabitants.” Apparently, Lobeira, Calvos de Randín, A Veiga e O Bolo are those municipalities that boast more streetlights than people… I took a screenshot of the headline to send it to my sisters because the headlines combination of words was rather suggestive and I confess to finding it somewhat funny. But at the moment I was going to send it, a chill paralyzed my body. The fact that there are more streetlights than people means more than depopulation, it means disappearance…On the one hand, I thought about the reason that so many streetlights were needed and in rushed into my head the images of widowers who live alone at the heart of the country as well as the idea that they deserve the same right than those who live in the cities: lighting.
I also thought about the light that we need in our society to realize what is happening. During the same week as the headline, I had read an article about the fact that more than half of the municipalities in Galicia have more retirees than contributors to the Social Security program. During the women’s strike last week, demands in favor of retirees were also included. Let us not forget that an increase of 0.25% means an increase of .98 cents every month for a widow or for someone with a permanent disability…And let us not forget the reason that retirees, both men and women, are out on the streets…On March 17, people will take to the streets to continue illustrating the fact that it is the majority and lose purchasing power, to keep the economic exercise of the other half, and of those affiliated, is going to be an impossible task…it’s a quid pro quo.
