Monday was a day of euphoria, especially among politicians. It is known that no matter who you ask, on the day after an election it is usually very difficult to find someone who will admit that what happened the night before was a failure. Everyone knows how to see the good side of things, even if the results have not met expectations.
Optimism is the elixir with which everyone sprinkles their statements to that their electorate remains convinced that the polls have proven them right. They usually wear their best smile, congratulate themselves and their team and, meanwhile, the majority also try to hide the lack of sleep that usually prevails on this day after. The night, whether it went well or badly, is usually short in an election.
On Monday we experienced a wave of more or less imposed optimism in which it was very easy to detect who was truly overjoyed by what had happened the previous day. And no, they were not the spokespersons or leaders of the PNV, or the PSOE or Bildu or the PP. No, She doesn’t play in any party.although he wears a uniform.
On Monday, the lieutenant colonel in command of the military operation that had managed to bring Álex back from Thailand, Pilar Salvador still had a smile painted on her lips. It was difficult for him to hide his euphoria. It was difficult for her not to be honestly happy about what had happened.
The day before, the Basque elections and the match between Real Madrid and Barça stole his focus. We barely saw her at the foot of the track in Torrejón de Ardoz, with that same smile, happy because everything had gone well. Anyone would think that they had been flying above her for 12 hours with tension running high. She was proud of the team that had achieved it: 11 health workers, including three women, all members of the Umaer, the Air Evacuation Medical Unit of the Air Force that had flown from Madrid to Bangkok to bring a man who had been waiting for his return home for two months.
His situation was extreme. The medicalized plane had to make the trip without running any additional risk: Time was against Álex. In fact, as soon as he entered the Cruces hospital, in Baracaldo (Vizcaya), the doctors decided to operate on him. His pancreas was bad, the CT scan left no room for doubt.
Pilar Salvador was in command of that expedition. She is the first woman in history to lead this unit. But he didn’t tell that, neither on Sunday when he landed in Madrid nor on Monday when he answered all the media who called him to ask how that flight had gone. He confessed to us that she had been able to exchange a phone message with Álex. He had told her how he had woken up after the operation. His first night at home after an odyssey that, thanks to this great team, it does have a happy ending. And this one, really.
