The eclipse of fear

At the time when the Moon had already begun to eclipse the Sun, a pair of German posers were clashing shopping bags from the golden mile stores and four Jehovah's Witnesses were waiting in vain to proselytize. As if an exceptional astronomical phenomenon were not about to occur. On the way to the terraces of Es Baluard, a street vendor was placing, bored, his straw hats. "Do you have glasses?". He shook his head because he knew they were asking him for the eclipse ones. Already at the top of the museum, a foreign couple had decided to cut in half the only pair they had and their children were looking at the Sun with one eye and covering the other with a hand.

The clock marked 8:20 PM and it was enough to look at the horizon to know that, when the culminating moment of the total eclipse arrived, the Sun would have already set behind the mountains.

The locals lamented. Voices mixed, even conversations were held. "We would have gone to El Arenal, but they've painted the apocalypse for us." "In the Serra, don't even think about it. It's for the rich." "My sister-in-law told me that there are fewer people in El Arenal than on Saint John's Day." Meanwhile, the Palma City Council was correcting itself in a ridiculous dance of figures. From the 100,000 predicted attendees, they dropped to 70,000; shortly after, to less than half: 30,000, and they ended up talking about 60,000.

The numbers don't matter because the rulers have turned the event into the eclipse of fear. They have cloaked security in an excess of zeal that has left Official Observation Zones practically empty because the conviction spread that it was impossible to reach them. Even in Pla de Mallorca. That is, if the citizens ever knew where they could go, because what they were clear about was where they could not go.

The Government can boast of a security device that worked like clockwork, but it must know that it ended up demotivating and discouraging attendance.

Given the difficulties, the islander applied the policy of "whatever" and "I'll watch it calmly on IB3 anyway." One only needs to consult the audience record of TeleProhens.

Afterwards, the privileged ones certified that nothing was comparable to being in front of the horizon and seeing live the crown of fire that protruded from the contour of the Moon.

There will be no more opportunities. It is a failure to have stolen it from the citizens.