Nora Ephron wrote an article about Teflon, which was the coating that prevented food from sticking to pans. She told the American journalist that she felt sorry for Teflon, which was great while it lasted, but it was discovered that it was not healthy. Apparently, when overheated, it released a chemical that was harmful to the body. “I loved Teflon,†explained Ephron, “I loved the ricotta pancake without carbs that I invented last year and that could only be made with Teflon. I loved my Teflon coated Silverstone skillet which made wonderful steaks. I even loved it as an adjective: we had a Teflon chair (…) that over time the coating deterioratedâ€.
In politics, the Teflon effect is more common than it seems: we get excited about leaders when they sell us their properties, but as we lose the coating, we realize risks we didn’t realize before. It is possible that Pedro Sánchez is a victim of this effect after five years in the Government, but Alberto Núñez Feijóo himself does not escape either and that has not yet arrived. Let me explain: a year ago, the new leader of the PP was dismissed with enthusiasm by the business community gathered in the Cercle d’Economia, who listened to his conciliatory speech about plural Spain and after a few days put the handbrake on the attacks of the Media brunette. This week he has once again been applauded by pointing out that Spain is not only what happens in Madrid, that the Catalans are the ones that pay the most taxes and that if Catalonia is not doing well, neither is Spain.
We’ll see if this time the story resists longer. In the capital of Spain, the Teflon effect is increased, because there are chefs today who heat the informative frying pan to very high temperatures. And they even scratch the bottom of their pans with knives, which increases their toxicity.
Feijóo’s words sounded good to the Catalan business community, although he did not specify solutions. Nora Ephron’s ricotta pancakes looked good, too, but the Teflon made them threatening.
