Pilar Mazo
Logroño, (EFE).- The vote, the loaf of bread in hand and the newspaper under the arm, bags prepared to enjoy a day in the pool and families with everything prepared to overcome the heat are some of the images that election morning has left in the capital of La Rioja and in many of its municipalities.
Sunday did not wake up very hot, but, as the day has gone by, temperatures have increased in La Rioja, which is on a yellow warning, with the forecast that the thermometers will reach 37 degrees.
In all polling stations, citizen awareness of exercising the right to vote has been noted, since, before the opening of the polling stations, there were people lining up to avoid the hot hours.
Even some, right after voting, have started their vacations and others have made a break from their weekend in the town to fulfill this duty.
The cafeterias have also noticed the desire of the people of La Rioja to exercise their right to vote, which has been seen in the cafes since early in the morning, especially among the elderly, according to what they have detailed to EFE in some of these establishments.
They have also commented that there has been a greater influx in the cafeterias first thing in the morning, which is not usual on a Sunday, since it is normal for them to come at noon, at vermouth time.
Even some, the closest to the polling stations, have opened, when Sunday is usually their day of rest.
In polling stations, in addition to ballots and ballot boxes, fans and water bottles have been the protagonists, especially in those that do not have air conditioning or cross ventilation, as has been the case in some sports centers.
The youth, however, have not been early risers, as reported in other polling stations, where the presence of young voters is expected as the day progresses.
The elderly have taken advantage of the early hours of the day to exercise their right to vote in Logroño, where octogenarians have been seen holding the arm of one of their relatives and others equipped with walkers, wheelchairs and crutches.
THE BISHOP OF VOCAL
One of the anecdotes of the day was carried out by the bishop of the Diocese of Calahorra and La Calzada-Logroño, Santos Montoya, who has served as a member of the polling station in the Quintiliano building of the University of La Rioja, very close to the Seminary, where he resides, and willing to “comply with a service to the citizenry,” he told EFE.
Several cloistered nuns from the Congregation of Madre de Dios, also very close to the Seminary and the university campus, have gotten up early to exercise their right to vote in this same polling station.
After depositing their right to vote at the table that corresponded to them, which was not Montoya’s, and some of them, due to their advanced age, grabbed the arm of a younger nun, they have come to greet the bishop, dressed in a white short-sleeved shirt and the clergyman.
As usual on every election day, the La Rioja municipality of Villarroya has once again been the first to close its polls, in 26 seconds, 3 less than its record, achieved in the municipal and regional elections on May 28.
In the same electoral college, but half an hour apart, the president of the La Rioja Government, Gonzalo Capellán, voted in Logroño; and her successor and Socialist candidate for the Senate, Concha Andreu, who, when going to vote, realized that she had left her ID in the car, where she went to look for it.