Nora Ephron wrote an article about Teflon, which was the coating that prevented food from sticking to pans. The American journalist said she felt sorry for Teflon, which was great while it lasted, but was discovered to be unhealthy. Apparently, when it got too hot it released a chemical that was harmful to the body. “I loved Teflon – explained Ephron – I loved the ricotta cake without hydrates that I invented last year and that I could only make with Teflon. I loved my Teflon coated Silverstone pan which made wonderful steaks. I loved it even as an adjective: we had a Teflon president (…) whose coating was damaged over time”.
In politics, the Teflon effect is more common than it seems: we get excited about leaders when they sell us their properties, but when they lose their cover, we realize risks that we didn’t notice before. It is possible that Pedro Sánchez will be a victim of this effect after five years in Government, but Alberto Núñez Feijóo himself is not spared either and that he has not yet arrived. Let me explain: a year ago, the new leader of the PP was fired with enthusiasm by the business community gathered at the Cercle d’Economia, who listened to his conciliatory speech on plural Spain and after a few days put the handbrake against the attacks of the media brunette. This week he was applauded again when he pointed out in his speech that Spain is not just what happens in Madrid, that the Catalans are the ones who pay the most taxes and that if Catalonia is not doing well, neither is Spain.
We’ll see if this time the story lasts longer. In the capital of Spain, the Teflon effect is increasing, because there are chefs today who heat the informative pan to very high temperatures. And they even scrape the bottom of the pans with knives, which increases the toxicity.
Feijóo’s words sounded good to the Catalan business community, although he did not specify solutions. Also, Nora Ephron’s ricotta cakes looked good, but Teflon made them a menace.
