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10 | Gazette Life | August 2025GAZETTE | NEWSWELCOME BACK%u2026 OR NOT? A political row has unfolded after a proposal to name Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S%u00e1nchez persona non grata on Lanzarote before his summer holidays on the island.S%u00e1nchez is one of Lanzarote%u2019s greatest fans, regularly spending summer breaks with his wife and two daughters at Las Maretas, the %u201cKing%u2019s House%u201d near Costa Teguise. However, this year S%u00e1nchez arrives at a delicate time. Recently, Santos Cerd%u00e1n, his right-hand man and ex-secretary of the Socialist Party, has been imprisoned on suspicion of corruption charges, while two more party bigwigs also face investigation. Then, in midJuly, S%u00e1nchez%u2019s close colleague, Francisco Salazar was accused of sexual harassment and creating a toxic workplace for women. The opposition Partido Popular (PP) have called for new elections, having seen their chance to topple S%u00e1nchez%u2019s fragile majority government in the same way he defeated them in 2018, following the PP%u2019s involvement in the immense G%u00fcrtel corruption case. And on Lanzarote, the local PP, led by Astrid P%u00e9rez, joined the clamour. P%u00e9rez told the Canarian parliament that S%u00e1nchez was %u201cnot welcome%u201d on Lanzarote, while PP councillors on Lanzarote%u2019s Cabildo proposed a motion to name himpersona non grata. Such a motion would not have any real force, but would simply act as a symbolic statement by the island government. However, to pass the motion the PP would require the support of the CC, their partners in the ruling group. It%u2019s the first time such a proposal has been made in response to a visit by a political leader, and the Socialist Party responded furiously, calling the motion %u201cridiculous%u201d and accusing the PP of %u201cbeing all over the place.%u201dIn Har%u00eda, the socialist-led council extended a greeting to S%u00e1nchez, saying it would be %u201can honour%u201d for him to come back to the town where he was photographed visiting the pretty Saturday market last year. T%u00edas, also ruled by the Socialists, repeated the invitation. PEDRO%u2019S HIDEAWAYThe palace at Las Maretas was designed by C%u00e9sar Manrique and his architect friend Fernando Higueras. Known widely as %u201cThe King%u2019s House%u201d, it was originally built for King Hussein of Jordan before he presented it to Juan Carlos I of Spain in 1989. Over the years, the palace has hosted Spanish PMs Aznar and Zapatero as well as world leaders such as Helmut K%u00f6hl, Vaclav Havel and Mikhail Gorbachev.