Calleja heads to La Mareta: Sánchez's latest guest

Calleja, Sánchez's guest at La Mareta: a row is brewing

Jesús Calleja has been seen at Lanzarote airport on his way to La Mareta, the official residence the government of Pedro Sánchez uses to host prominent figures. The adventure TV presenter, known for his televised exploits, thus becomes the latest guest of the Prime Minister, a gesture that has not gone unnoticed. The photograph of the alucinación, published by okdiario, has unleashed a wave of comments mixing irony, criticism of the cost and rejection of the media profile of the man involved.

Calleja is not a politician, but a popular figure who has managed to connect with wide audiences. Yet that is precisely what some consider problematic: his presence in a place traditionally reserved for official figures is read as an attempt to polish Moncloa's image at a low point. In favour, there are those who point out that La Mareta has hosted artists and athletes on other occasions and that the controversy is just noise. Against it, the economic argument returns to the scene: the upkeep of these residences, the deployed staff and the transport arrangements all come out of everyone's pockets. And there, the criticism stops being trivial.

Everything suggests the visit will be remembered as an exercise in political staging, a headline rather than a decision. The question is whether the presenter, used to facing hostile terrain, will weather the backlash better than Moncloa itself. We shall see.