According to his mother, Virgilio Moreno was like this: "His favorite toy has always been a soccer ball."

PalmHe was a blond little piglet with very light eyes; calm and easy to handle. His favorite toy has always been a soccer ball. In fact, soccer is his great passion. And Barça. At some point, he "dreamed of being a soccer player." Until he was almost an adult, he played for different teams, such as Sallista, Constancia, and Murer. As a teenager, he even refereed. He shares the name (uncommon in the Canary Islands) of his godfather from Ciudad Real, where his father is from, Inocente Moreno. We're talking about Virgilio Moreno Sarrió, who has been the mayor of Inca for over a decade under the PSOE banner. His mother, Maria Sarrió, reveals a lesser-known side of him.

He was born in 1977 and is the son of shoemakers. For whatever reason, his passion for football was soon eclipsed by politics. "Na Francina Armengol came looking for my husband to run for office, but he told her no. I don't know how we ended up talking about Virgilio, who at that time was studying to be a Physical Education teacher at Madre Alberta. Since then, politics has been his life. I haven't heard him complain even once; people tell him he hasn't complained once." The mayor of Inca's younger brother is Alberto, who was born when Virgilio was five years old.

His mother says that when Virgilio was eight, she went back to work in the shoe factory. The school day started at seven in the morning, so the children had to go to school alone and often finish eating: "They weren't late for school once. I know because my sister-in-law worked in the cleaning service at La Salle and she told me. Sometimes they just had to heat it up, and other times there were more instructions." She also mentions that, while they lived at home, the two brothers shared a room: "I wanted it that way to facilitate their relationship, that special bond between brothers."

Maria left the boy in the La Salle 'maternal' service from the time he was two years old. From those days, he still keeps in touch with a friend, Manolo, with whom he later went through all his schooling. She emphasizes that at school, "he never had any problems" and that "he was a good student." In fact, since he got good grades, they sometimes gave him a present: a watch or a video game console, but he never had time to play. At home, during the week, the routine was clear: school, training, a shower, and an early bedtime. "By nine o'clock they were already in bed. Only on Fridays could they have dinner with their father and me," Maria recalls.

One of Virgilio's aptitudes is that from a very young age he was a talkative person with a knack for argumentation. And at school, they also highlighted that quality in the fair-haired, blue-eyed young man: "There was a psychologist who mentioned Joana and told me he had leadership qualities, that he liked to be in charge. And it was true, because he did the same thing at home," Maria points out. Furthermore, he was very open and generous: "All the neighbors told me he greeted everyone and was very respectful," says the mother of the mayor of Inca, her voice breaking with emotion. "He has always been a very good person: friendly, polite, and willing to help." Moreover, luckily, Maria says, both he and Alberto are very family-oriented: "Every time he comes to see me, he gives me a kiss, and another when he leaves. That's a blessing. And he's so handsome!"