Crown crisis in Spain – Europe’s patient – again

Doctors speak of a superinfection when a patient falls ill with other infections after a virus. Spain threatens to become that patient. The crisis in the crown is turning into an economic and state crisis. Regionalism and the traditional irreconciliation between socialists and conservatives are proving to be the worst obstacles in the fight against the coronavirus. The polarization of the political fields, always evident in Spain, displays its destructive power in this vulnerable moment and makes Spain especially vulnerable to the pandemic.

For weeks, Spain has reported the highest number of cases in Europe. The latest death toll is reaching the level of April, when Spain was the most affected along with Italy. But while Italy is now seen as a positive example of containing Sars-CoV-2, doctors in Spain are again warning of the collapse. But it is not only the massive overload of the health system that makes this hour one of the darkest in the recent history of Spain. The International Monetary Fund expects Spain’s gross domestic product to collapse by 12.8 percent by 2020. The worst recession since the end of the civil war is forecast.

Tourism has almost completely collapsed

Added to this is the dependence on tourism, on which almost 13 percent of jobs depend. In recent months, tourism has almost completely collapsed. Many waiters and maids live off what they have earned in summer in winter. What will they live on this winter? Many fear the crisis is worse than that of 2013, when unemployment peaked at 27 percent. Spain threatens to be a European patient again.

Therefore, it is logical that the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, focuses his hopes on an antidote from Brussels. This Wednesday Sánchez explained how he plans to spend the 140,000 million of the EU. He calls it a “recovery plan” for Spain. However, it would be more accurate to use an “emergency injection”, because the country will not recover soon.

People feel more or less at the mercy of the virus.

Especially since the third crisis, which is just beginning: Spain is experiencing a dramatic loss of confidence in politics and institutions. Half of the voters think that the government is doing its job worse than other governments. In March, only 24 percent thought that. Political scientist Víctor Lapuente rightly stated: “Spain is trapped in a vicious cycle of citizens who distrust the rulers and those in power who distrust the citizens.”

While in other countries confidence in elected deputies rose in the face of the pandemic, in Spain it is sinking into the abyss. 90 percent of Spaniards do not believe that the country is prepared for the months leading up to the pandemic. People feel more or less at the mercy of the virus. This summer, 150 scientists asked Spain to independently review its virus control measures. Nothing happened.

Fatal self-paralysis

Instead of resolutely addressing the virus, public officials attack their political opponents. While the leader of the opposition in neighboring Portugal promised the head of government his “full cooperation” and wished him courage, luck and good nerves, the Socialists and Conservatives in Madrid are pursuing a fundamental opposition. The result is great immobility. In the fight against the virus, which requires constant adaptation, this self-paralysis is fatal. “The unity of all the institutions is the way to defeat the virus”, warned the Minister of Social Affairs of the Community of Madrid, before resigning in frustration.

The European Union alone promises unity. It is the only institution to which surveys show that almost all Spaniards are directed. As a donor, the EU is essential for the recovery of Spain, but also as a common horizon for the future of Spain.

Posted: October 7, 2020, 6:47 pm