For one reason or another, surfing and government institutions have historically not had a very friendly relationship. And, although they have been getting closer, to this day many people believe that any closeness between surfers and politicians is a farce.

There are farces everywhere, between surfers and politicians, between businessmen and politicians and businessmen, and businessmen with surfers and surfers with politicians.

But there are also the others, there are good people who generate good things, and the union between institutions and surfers can lead to good things. The most recent example is the one being generated by Ramón Navarro in Chile, who meets with ministers, other authorities and the president, to create what is known to have a positive impact on surfing, the environment and tourism in the country.

It is a large-scale project that perhaps Ramón, who is a well-known citizen in Pichilemu, could have achieved alone, but it will certainly have a greater impact with the help of the government, the government that all Chileans elect and pay for.

Yesterday, President Piñera jokingly told Ramón that if he taught him to surf, he would pass a law. A law! A law that is passed based on a surfer is no small thing. It is true that this is not the first time – the law on the protection of breakers in Peru, for example – but it is equally historic.

That is to say, that by law there is a motor for promoting surfing, that by law the care of the coastal environment is promoted and that by law surfer tourism is encouraged, and that everything has been born from the contact of a surfer with the institutions, is something huge. And, looking at the other side, that whoever does not respect this law will see its consequences.

This was achieved because the surfer, the son of a fisherman from Pichilemu, who was known for his exceptional bravery and class as an athlete, knew how to direct his visibility to achieve this. And it is not the first time that Ramón has done this, and it will not be the last.

This is another example of how permanent contact with the authorities, who, I repeat, were elected and supported by the people, is of fundamental importance to generate areas of great positive impact on surfing.