For Pope Francis to abandon traditional Vatican diplomacy to receive the mayor of one of the main European capitals is unusual. And that he does it on the eve of an electoral campaign, even less. The scene was as follows: “The Lord Mayor of Madrid,” announced Archbishop Carlos Osoro. José Luis Martínez-Almeida extended his hand to the Supreme Pontiff. Francisco shook it and surprised by stating: “The heir of the great Manuela.” It was Manuela Carmena, the mayoress who governed when she did not win and when she did win she had to leave. And what did Almeida do? Hunch your shoulders and smile.
The scene immediately generated a flood of reactions on social media. Antagonistic, of course. There are those who tried to get political gain from the comment, such as Más Madrid, a party touched in recent days after its regional candidate Mónica García resigned with the social bonus. You see, even the Pope remembers Carmena, they defended.
On the opposite side, there are those who saw the Pope’s joke as one more element of his supposed “communism”. You see, do we need any more proof to know that Francisco is from the left and that he sympathizes with them?, they wondered. Curious. But don’t let reality spoil a viral tweet.
You only need to search a little in the newspaper library to find out why the Pope mentioned “the great Manuela”. Despite the fact that certain sectors of society regret it, Francisco knows and praises Carmena for a matter of greater importance. February 2019, migration crisis in the Mediterranean. The Pontiff received Carmena, together with Ada Colau and the director of Open Arms, Òscar Camps, dedicated with his boat to rescuing people who risk their lives at sea.
They were complex days and the boats were blocked in the ports. The mayors and the boss requested an audience in Rome and asked for his mediation. Carmena herself published on Twitter that she spoke with Francisco in the Vatican rooms. She said that she had shared with him “the interest in humanizing politics and the experience of twinning and welcoming that exists in our cities.”
Red potato, as some called it? Rather humanitarian. Sensitive, if you will, to the drama of immigration. The problem is not only in Ukraine. In the Mediterranean, too, a great number of lives are at stake on a daily basis.
