There are news stories that show what a government is really like and this, undoubtedly, is one of them: last Saturday, Pedro Sánchez announced the setting up of a Covid-19 scientific committee. Spanish health minister, Salvador Illa, will be part of this group, accompanied by six experts, among them, Antoni Trilla, epidemiologist and preventive medicine head at Barcelona's Hospital Clínic. One month after the virus first struck Spain, and a week after the implementation of the national state of alarm and the takeover of all the autonomous communities’ powers, the Spanish government announced the setting up of this committee. Following the deployment of the military and the marketing of Spanish patriotism, it seems that finally, it is time for the experts. All very sad and regrettable.
Has the Spanish government done anything during these past weeks, aside from fumbling in the dark and resisting tooth and nail the imposition of the complete lockdown the scientific community asked for? The initial rejection of Catalan president Quim Torra’s request was, of course, well received in other regions of Spain. “Typical of the unsupportive Catalans” was claimed in Madrid when all that was requested was the isolation of the two communities where the risk was highest: Madrid, with the worst death toll, over 800 deaths, and Catalonia, with nearly 200 deaths recorded last Saturday.
As days go by, the situation changes. More and more elected representatives now support Torra’s demands - the president of Murcia, and Núñez Feijóo, president of Galicia, - while the presidents of the Basque Country and Madrid communities are, to a certain extent, disobeying the central government. The Balearic Islands were already granted a complete lockdown after the implementation of the state of siege. Doctors and nurses all over Catalonia have already urged the population to follow the total isolation demanded by the Catalan government and over a hundred scientists all over Spain, among which there are epidemiologists, doctors and statisticians have asked for a full lockdown in order to avoid the foreseeable health system collapse. How many more warnings are necessary, Mr Sánchez? We can do without meaningless and patronizing speeches which say nothing important as was the case with last Saturday night’s speech. We need decisions.
This happened the day before the Spanish president’s meeting with the autonomous communities’ presidents. While the first meeting held served merely to transmit Sánchez’s decisions, this time we should expect him to listen to different opinions and enforce more stringent decisions. The number of deaths in Spain has risen to 1,326. It is already the country with the third highest number of infections and the curve maintains a horrifying progression. When the widespread assumption is that much more could be done, citizens cannot be left feeling that what is being done is not enough. And regrettably, this is what is happening today.