As a child, I despised coin-operated binoculars. Not once did I see what I wanted to see before time ran out. It wasn’t until a visit to the Korean DMZ, the world’s capital of binoculars-enabled tourism, that I understood their appeal. Now I can’t resist using them. If it were up to me, every elevated spot in Gran Canaria would have coin-operated binoculars, with the prime location being the southwestern corner of the Faro’s terrace.

“But mate, that spot faces the ocean…”

Shut up. Just aim west and look towards El Pajar. Doesn’t that factory resemble a villain’s lair? Who else but a charismatic supervillain would build such an eyesore on a protected coastline? And what sinister things happen in there? Top-secret military research? Biological weapons? Human-animal hybrids?

“It’s just a cement factory, mate. Give me my coin back…” —looks around— “Mate?”

Since I must leave in a hurry, let me quickly point out the final immersion point of your Faro’s visit: the carnival of flags at the entry. In January 2024, it looked like this.

If earlier I talked about the concentration of corporate power in the Canaries, politically it’s quite the opposite. From left to right, you have the flags of Spain, the Canary Islands, the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, and the European Union. These flags represent five administrative levels, often controlled by different parties that don’t hesitate to antagonize each other when their political goals diverge. I mention this because, among all the contrivances I’m asking you to buy in regard to the villain’s plot, the fact that different police/military forces in Spain don’t talk much to each other is not the most ludicrous one.

As for the sixth flag, it represents our local football team, the Unión Deportiva Las Palmas (UDLP), which now plays in LaLiga, Spain’s top football division. Its characteristic blue/yellow kit matches the colours of the Gran Canaria flag, and indeed the yellow shirt Lund buys in the Faro shops to disguise himself as a tourist is the UDLP kit. If you wonder why there is a football flag alongside the governmental ones, you’re not alone. I imagine somebody would have noted the lack of consistency at some point. I can also imagine the response they got.

“Consistency uno, Las Palmas dos.”