THE TRUTH
TOMÁS MARTÍNEZ PAGÁN
Sunday, October 21, 2018, 08:48
Last week we had to visit El Jimenado. And as we liked the visit so much, this week we decided to continue through the same area, although this time, moving to Villa de Torre Pacheco. There the story of the owner of this article develops. But first I want to invite you to a very special breakfast, which I’m sure you’ll like.
In case anyone still did not know, I remind you that October 12 is the day of Pilar, patron of Spain and our Civil Guard. On the occasion of this festivity, this year, once again, I accompanied Captain Muñoz, from the Comandancia de Cartagena, as did more than 500 Cartageneros, to the Holy Mass and to the Spanish wine with which he celebrated this feast, and where those who live for the King and Spain make you feel the unity of our Homeland. There I met Rogelio, who invited me to celebrate the World Egg Day, which since 1996 has been celebrated in countries around the world on the second Friday of October.
Rogelio celebrates it every year in his country house, but on Saturday, for that reason to be even more original, which allowed me to attend this unique event. Fifteen good friends met to share a lunch consisting of round bread from the field, cut into thin slices and toasted in the olive coals in the fireplace in the living room. We add sobrasada that, with the heat, it melts impregnated in the molla, and a little oregano to give it this perfect touch that good chefs always look for. Part of the tostas we also took with grated tomato and thin slices of Iberian bacon, which had also been given a small heat stroke and had been adorned with some cuts of tender garlic. Irrigated with wine from Bodegas La Cerca, from Pozo Estrecho, maridan of category.
Juan Tomás Frutos recalls in a book the legacy of the former mayor of Torre Pacheco El día del Pilar, the lives of the King and of Spain make you feel the unity of our country
All this gave way to the main menu, consisting of fried eggs with lace, a chorizo and some potatoes from La Puebla, accompanied by good bread to sauté and salt to add by hand. Next, a Paisana tortilla with potatoes, chorizo, peas and peppers, and another spinach tortilla and superb tuna with flavor. From there we went to some Morcillonas, potatoes poached in olive oil sautéed with free-range eggs and blood sausage from Burgos, and some starched poultry eggs on fried potatoes and Iberian shavings cut very thin. To finish, Castilian garlic soup and paprika de la Vera, with minced Iberian ham with poached egg.
We finished with some homemade egg custards, accompanied by puchero coffee with a few drops of anise. So we did time until 5 o’clock, time when we went to the City of Torre Pacheco, where that great journalist of the land that is Juan Tomás Frutos, a graduate and doctor in Journalism, and who has participated as an author in more than 50 books , and who writes just as well as he speaks on TVE, presented his book ‘The story of a good man. In his 399 pages, he details how loved he was, what he is and what he will continue to be Pedro Jiménez Ruiz, former mayor of Torre Pacheco. And, as the current mayor of the town, Antonio León Garre, said very well, «in Pacheco there are two mayors: the one who governs and Pedro Jiménez, who they still call Mayor in the street.»
Health center and institute
Juan Tomás refers to our Mayor Jiménez in the following way: «It seems like it was yesterday. He was mayor of Torre Pacheco for two decades. It seems easy to say, but it is a very long period, that few have achieved. What is relevant is the imprint that has bequeathed. He likes to tell the truth, hers, as he confesses, but, in the end, he’s a transparent guy, and that’s why he reaches the vast majority … He’s happy to get along with everyone. He likes to boast of having connected with all the regional presidents since his time, from Hernández Ros to Ramón Luís Valcárcel. The first health center that was made in Spain was his work. The City Council put the money, and the equipment and personnel, the State … Equally, within that pioneering character, the Roldán Bachelor Institute was set up, which prevented the transfer of students over long distances ».
Continuing with the achievements of this great character, Juan Tomás tells us how «coherence, continuity, will, dedication, cooperation, altruism, empathy, even stubbornness, thinking well of all, betting on the future without looking at who benefits, advancing to the step that admits existence … are signs of identity of a character that will pass to posterity, which is already part of the landscape and peasantry, for being, as we emphasize, a good person . You can not say more».
As for the land that saw him born, he refers to it as follows: «It is located, this town, about 40 kilometers from Murcia and 14 from Cartagena. TieNe of everything, from industry to a splendid fairground, as well as an immense and fruitful agriculture. Its population, dispersed, in its 190 km2, borders the 35,000 registered inhabitants. Surely there are more. There are many foreigners who, if not throughout the year, spend much of it in this emblematic place, which houses charms of different genre, from the archaeological or anthropological in the Cabezo Gordo to the International Flamenco Festival of Lo Ferro, one of the three most important in Spain, which is as much as to say of the world … In this place of encounters, Pedro Jiménez came to the world. Like the vast majority of people in these parts, it is an imaginative, creative, fighter, gallant, industrious, intelligent and, fundamentally, good person. You can not ask for more. «» Noble people «To these heartfelt words joins a broad photographic report of his years in office, which shows how Pedro Jiménez made Torre Pacheco the capital of the Campo de Cartagena. Hence, his hymn is also impregnated with his spirit: «Noble, loyal, industrious people / of these fields pride and blazon / today your children extol your glories / in a vibrant and felt song … Beautiful is your sky and your field / with its almond trees in bloom / with its palm trees and olive trees / with its harvest in season … Beautiful is the temple in which you pray / beautiful your women are ». And if with the presentation of the book the plenary room was filled up to fit even a pin, when his name was discovered in the Plaza in front of the Town Hall, it was packed, with politicians of all times and a multitude of countrymen who still want, and much !, to their Mayor Pedro, «A good man» . And today I finish with a classic, D. Francisco de Quevedo, which serves as a counterpoint to all of the above: «Pride never falls from where it rises, but it always falls from where it rose».