There is a feeling that until just a few hours the population of this country (each person can put what they want here), had not become aware of the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic that is devastating the world.
There are theories that attribute it to the character of Latinos; Italians, Spaniards, South Americans, very prone to ignoring the danger and with customs of personal proximity and outdoor living that do not occur in other places, which favor the spread of this virus.
It may be that this crisis, in addition to catching us off guard, has highlighted the best and the worst in human beings.
Thus we have appreciated the immense solidarity work of health personnel, whose effort is difficult to compensate, beyond our gratitude graphically expressed in the loud and collective applause, which last Saturday resonated at 10 pm in the streets of our towns. and cities.
Perhaps this effort, in many cases superhuman, is the most positive element we can take from these weeks, although behaviors that bring out the worst in ourselves have also appeared.
Starting with the irresponsible attitudes of those, and there are many, who did not take seriously the danger that authorities, doctors and scientists were conveying from the different media.
The departure in droves from Madrid, the epicenter of the epidemic here, of thousands of citizens who interpreted the measures that were beginning to be taken as a vacation to the coasts, has probably allowed the virus to spread more easily.
Should Madrid have been closed before? Was it further in time than having closed communication with Italy? And with China?
Probably, but there is no point in considering it as a "past ball", except so that we can take note of what was wrong and be able to correct it in the future.
Nor was it very edifying to see the bars in my town filled to the brim on Friday, or groups of young people in droves taking advantage of the “vacations” in schools and institutes.
I told a group of them that they should not be on the street in groups. The response was indicative of their irresponsibility: “we don't mind getting infected.” Okay, you can have suicidal behaviors typical of your age, but the problem, kid, is that with your foolishness you put me in danger, who belongs to a vulnerable group. It is better not to tell your answer.
Today things have changed radically, perhaps because the intervention of the President of the Government has put fear into common mortals. Fear of contagion rather than contagion, but especially fear of the consequences of breaking the rules.
The fact is that this still sunny Sunday morning is dominated by silence, the absence of that torture that noise means. The noisy packs of children and young people have disappeared, just as bars, beaches, entertainment venues, car streets, even factories in some places have been emptied.
As a consequence, in addition to the almost disappearance of annoying noise, the decrease in air pollution throughout the planet, the absence of British hooligans on the streets of Mallorca, plus one important element, public health, exemplary during these weeks, has absorbed, as It must be private.
How much responsibility for what happened in Madrid has been the erroneous transfer from the public to the private?
Following that, a reflection; It could happen that the next focus of the epidemic appears in the United States, with public health very weakened and non-existent in some segments of society.
People who here, when the first symptoms appear, turn to the health network, there they cannot because they lack benefits, which may be giving rise to a silent but brutal spread. Paradoxes of life, it is likely that the restrictive measures taken by Trump have done us a favor.
Finally, globalization will also be called into question after this storm. That there are factories paralyzed due to lack of fundamental parts in the manufacturing chain, as lowering prices has taken precedence over distance from supplier locations, this system must be questioned.
Perhaps the future will be just the opposite, that VW will have its essential suppliers in the Landaben industrial estate in Pamplona, although they are more expensive and not cheaper in China.
In the political aspect, there are also lights and shadows, some black, very black.
The behavior of Pablo Casado, leader of the PP, is far from what this extreme situation requires. Far from adopting the generous positions of a statesman who cares about the situation of the country and the health of its citizens, he walks along partisan and electoral paths trying to get a spurious return on the government's difficulties.
Pedro Sánchez and his government have probably made mistakes. Who in this extreme situation would not commit them? Perhaps the 8-M demonstrations should never have been allowed, or Madrid should have been closed tight when the exponential increase in coronavirus cases was detected.
It wasn't done, but now it's not time to blame, it's time to all row with maximum effort in the same direction, to get out of the perfect storm in which we are mired as quickly as possible.
The different behavior of the leaders of Euskadi and Catalonia deserves special mention.
While Íñigo Urkullu, through responsible criticism of the declaration of State of Alarm, has adopted a position of institutional collaboration, Quim Torra has opportunistically tried to take advantage of the serious situation to insist on his impossible demands.
The tweet, later deleted, by the now Junts per Catalunya MEP Clara Ponsatí indicating “From Madrid to heaven” once again demonstrates the drift of a sector of the independence movement that has not yet learned that the coronavirus affects the entire population, Whatever you think, independentist or not, Catalan, Andalusian, or Navarrese.
Everything that is bad is likely to get worse and the coronavirus-Catalan conflict binomial is not going to be an exception. As long as certain politicians, among whom are paradoxically people as diverse as Casado, Abascal, or Puigdemont, dedicate themselves to ziriquera instead of helping, we will have it increasingly complicated.
As a final summary there will therefore be a before and after of COVID 19, in health, in politics, in the industrial and economic structure and what should be most important, in social and individual behavior.
The world without noise, without pollution, with statesmanlike politicians, without young people or irresponsible tourists, with proximity to supplies, more powerful public health, more supportive and collective behaviors, mothers and fathers dedicated to the caring and supportive education of their children, etc should be the future?
Probably yes, that would be the good thing this pandemic leaves us with. We should at least reflect on it.
We will see……….
José Luis Úriz Iglesias (Former parliamentarian and PSN-PSOE councilor)
