If Homer were alive, he would talk about trains and buses

“There is not, by a long shot, a general problematic situation of public transport or chaos”. These words from the Minister of Housing, Territory and Mobility, José Luis Mateo, lead me to conclude that this gentleman has not taken a bus or a train throughout his term, except when it comes to putting a Government delegation in an empty carriage to give some speech that fits the same description: empty.

These days we have suffered more than ever the shortcomings of the public service that we all pay for. We live in a dystopian situation and endure an odyssey to get to work or go home. If Homer were alive, Odysseus would experience agony returning home on an SFM train or a TIB bus. The Greek creator would have plenty of material, because we have a public transport system befitting third-class citizens.

If you take a trip to the Intermodal to catch a train or a bus, the first thing you will notice is that this infrastructure is not at all prepared for summer in a Mediterranean region. The temperature is unbearable. It is very uncomfortable for healthy people, but for the elderly, children, the sick, and pregnant women, it is dangerous. In fact, I am surprised that there has not yet been any incident in that oven. Not to mention workers like the cleaning ladies, whose working day takes on the dimension of a divine punishment. If hell exists, it must be a very similar place.

If you take a bus, you will see how the vehicle heads down the road with the aisle full of people who could not sit, holding on as best they can and enduring the jolts. And don't think you'll get cool in the end. Canned sardines don't feel the air passing around them.

Exactly the same on the trains. You only have to look around and contemplate the resigned faces. Rulers do not deserve a citizenry like ours, which endures humiliating situations. Yes, I have not mistaken the word: traveling by public transport today in Mallorca is humiliating.

We are talking about workers, young people who have met up with their friends, conscious tourists who have not rented a car and prefer to use public transport, old men and women trying to get to the doctor, people who need to sort out some paperwork... All humiliated by the negligence of the rulers, propagandists who praise their imaginary achievements and who travel around the island in official vehicles.