atornillar

Literally to screw something in with a screwdriver (atornillar una tabla), and, in a well-known political idiom, atornillarse al poder/cargo — for a politician clinging stubbornly to power far beyond what's reasonable, as if bolted to their seat.

• Atornilló las bisagras de la puerta. — He screwed in the door hinges.
• El presidente busca atornillarse en el poder. — The president is looking to cling to power.
• Hay que atornillar bien la estantería a la pared. — The shelf needs to be firmly screwed to the wall.

Missing the political idiom atornillarse al poder and reading it only literally — in news commentary this phrase is a common, pointed criticism of a leader refusing to leave office, not about actual screws.

Often confused with aferrar.

• expression "Atornillarse al poder" — A widely used political idiom in Spanish-language journalism for a leader clinging stubbornly to office, as though bolted to their seat — used in recent coverage of figures like El Salvador's Nayib Bukele and Venezuela's Delcy Rodríguez seeking to entrench their hold on power.