Listen up, folks! There’s a new top dog in Mexico’s National Palace, and it’s not who you think. It’s not President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Rather, it’s any of the palace’s 19 feline residents who’ve just made hiss-tory by becoming the first animals in Mexico to be declared “living fixed assets.”
These furry friends have been given the royal treatment. The state is obliged to provide food and care for the rest of their nine lives, even after AMLO leaves office in October. Talk about a purr-fect deal!
These cats have been roaming the palace grounds for decades, stalking pigeons in the lush gardens and making surprise appearances during televised press briefings. They’ve even been known to sneak a lick of ice cream from unsuspecting staff members. It’s safe to say they’ve got this palace life figured out.
They might look cute and cuddly, but these felines mean business. The term “fixed assets” is normally applied to buildings or furniture.
The cats have become such an integral part of palace life that staff can’t imagine the place without them. AMLO himself has said that the cats “dominate” the palace and often walk in front of him during official proceedings.
“The cats are now a symbol of the National Palace,” says Adriana Castillo Román, general director of the National Palace and Cultural Heritage Conservancy. “We have to make sure the cats are taken care of.”
They’ve got names like Bowie (after the rockstar himself), Nube (the Spanish word referring to a cloud), and Ollin (an Aztec word for “movement”). One cat, named after the great god Zeus, once crashed the president’s morning press briefing and had to be carried off by palace staff.
Asked for comment, Nube said, “Meow.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.