Nurses and mayors: "We don't need to do marketing and say we care for people"

TortosaRosalia Pegueroles works one night on and one night off as a nurse in an operating room at the Hospital Universitari Verge de la Cinta. When her workday ends, she sleeps for a few hours and goes to be the mayor of her town, Aldover (Baix Ebre). Daniela Lleixà also juggles both jobs: she starts the day as a nurse in her town, Mas de Barberans (Montsià), and in the afternoons she exchanges her white coat for the mayor's staff. Mar Lleixà has a similar life, although she is the mayor of a larger city, Tortosa, and had to put her white coat away for later. Until this past January, she worked as a nurse at the same hospital as Rosalia, but following a government agreement with the PSC, it was her turn to be mayor in the latter part of the term, representing ERC. "I'll go back to being a nurse later. Because I am a nurse!", Mar claims.

Coincidence, or perhaps not, has led three nurses from Terres de l'Ebre to step into politics and become the mayors of their municipalities. Rosalia has been in office the longest (since 2015) and is not sure if she will continue. Daniela, on the other hand, has held the position of mayor since 2019 and seems determined to continue, just like Mar. But there are always doubts: "I was second on the list, not first," she says.

Women and nurses

The three nurses are convinced that their training and experience over these years wearing the white coat are a great asset to become mayors, although they have had to break some prejudices: "I was the first female mayor of my town and, furthermore, for 44 years there have been three mayors from the same party, the PSC. I don't know if they have questioned me, but I have had to reaffirm that I really have leadership capacity," explains Daniela, from Mas de Barberans. "As a woman, in politics you have to prove things that men are not asked to do," says Mar, who assures that she has also felt underestimated for being a nurse: "They have questioned me for being a nurse, but I am one with great pride. Besides, it helps me a lot to keep my feet on the ground," says Mar.

The three professionals, who are part of the Official College of Nurses and Midwives of Tarragona (CODITA), assure that their profession is a great school for learning to listen to people and they make fun of some political slogans: "Some people are uncomfortable listening to people, and that's why they need slogans like 'put people at the center' and all that," says Mar. And Daniela adds: "We don't need to do marketing and say that we care for people, because it's already implicit in our role." Rosalia adds: "Nurses are very resilient and when something doesn't go well, we start over and do it with passion. Passion cannot be forgotten. Whether you are a politician or a nurse, if you don't have passion, go home," she says. "In the operating room there are very dark and tense moments. A person can go from being alive to being dead in an instant," she explains, and this pressure helps to manage more easily the other challenges presented by the position of mayor.

All three are from ERC, but, like so many other people, they entered politics without belonging to any party and a little bit unwillingly. Some people suggested they take the step and, after thinking about it a lot, they decided with the sole objective –they say– of trying to contribute their bit to improving the quality of life of their fellow citizens. When Daniela felt called to run as a mayoral candidate for her town, she went to see Mar, who was the territorial director of Health for the Terres de l'Ebre, and asked her to mentor her as a politician. "We already knew each other because you end up meeting people here," says Mar, who explains that when they meet at party events or gatherings, they hug each other.

The three professionals are convinced that politics needs similar profiles, with empathy and a willingness to listen. "In the end, you realize that governing is also about taking care of people," says Mar.