This diary is about Spain’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But first, one quick paragraph of background info, por favor.
We’ve been in Spain for almost three years now. When we arrived, the national government was run by a right-wing coalition that was pretty corrupt. Most every Spaniard we met said that the prime minister was interested in giving contracts to his relatives more than doing any actual governing. After the voters did a “throw the bums out” in 2018, there was a year where the socialists had the plurality but couldn’t form a government. Then last year the local separatist parties here in Catalunya figured out that the socialists were their best chance to get some political clout in Madrid, and hooked up with them. So there’s an actual government that can pass bills and move the country forward.
Why all this background? Because now, having a functioning government matters. PM Sanchez instituted a lockdown earlier this month. He’s closed the borders to folks who don’t live here or don’t have a Spanish passport. And the police — we have three kinds of police and all three are involved — are actively enforcing the rules about who can be out and about. You better be going to the drug store, grocery store, or the medical clinic if you’re not at home. They’ve actually confiscated pallets of masks, gloves, and protective glasses coming in for price gougers and redirected them to health care facilities. In Zaragoza they short-circuited someone’s bright idea to auction off a bunch of those supplies.
This leadership is crucial. As you may know, Spain caught a decent number of COVID-19 cases right after Italy’s crisis started. That is likely because both Barcelona and Madrid are massive transportation hubs for this part of Europe. The short-haul airlines into our two big metropolises are numerous and the spiderweb of routes from here covers huge chunks of both Western and Eastern Europe. With the lockdown now in place, the number of flights has plummeted. There’s not really any point to having a flight to, say, Amsterdam or Brussels, when both Holland and Belgium are essentially closed.
While this is a sad thing for the airlines, it’s necessary to reduce the spread of the disease. Schools and non-essential shops were closed as soon as it was clear that Spain had a problem.
On the home front, our downstairs neighbor boy is 13 and his school has him doing online work. [Did you know Google School was a thing?] His parents are working from home, of course. That’s tough on the dad because he’s got several lottery kiosks; needless to say, they’re closed and he’s got no real income right now.
In our apartment, we’re doing fine. My very part-time work is all on-line. The weather’s been nice enough to sunbathe so we’re catching rays and finally reading some of the zillion e-books that have accumulated on our Kindles. I run to the local bodega or supermarket for produce and wine a couple of times a week. I picked up a couple of bottles of Guiness for St Patty’s Day, but mostly the purchases are produce, protein, and pasta.
The grocery store makes everyone put on plastic gloves (both hands, please!) as soon as they pass through the door. They’ve even got markers on the floor so you can stay 1 meter apart from the next person in the checkout line.
Back to leadership — although there was some panic buying over the weekend, stores have restocked and you can find what you need at all the supermarkets, even toilet paper (what is with that, anyway?) The Spanish government has told folks to sit tight and we’ll all get through this. PM Sanchez spoke yesterday: “GDP will fall,” he warned. “The year 2020 will not have 12 months, but rather 10 or even nine.” But, he added, “if we manage to maintain employment levels, the recovery will be fast.” He’s got a $220B relief package for families, self-employed, and businesses ready to go. And he’s proposed using medical students in their final year to augment the staffs at hospitals and clinics.
That sound you hear is leadership. Things aren’t perfect; the opposition agreed to step up and play nice during the crisis and, in the same speech, said the PM lacked self-criticism and humility. I guess conservatives everywhere are pretty much asses. But with more than 10,000 confirmed cases and upwards of 600 deaths nationwide, Spain’s government knows the problem must be addressed head-on. They’re doing it.