The Catalan government has announced, for next Monday, the start of the de-escalation from the drastic measures imposed in mid-October aimed at reversing the expansion of the pandemic in Catalonia. Thus begins what will be a slow return to a normality, which in any case will not take full effect while we are still in 2020, because, for example, it has already been announced that the current curfew will continue, at least for the first few months of next year. We are, therefore, very far from being able to turn a page, and the sectors most affected by the Covid-19 crisis still have a long way to go before they can breathe easy.
The measures adopted by the Catalan administration will provide minimal respite for the hospitality and cultural sectors, the two major sectors of activity in the country - along with the self-employed - who have seen their businesses closed and battered by crisis in extraordinarily difficult conditions. With little assistance, as the financial margin of the Catalan administration is not unlimited while the Spanish government, the only authority with the financial resources to alleviate the situation, has turned away and opted to weaken the autonomous communities.
The plan approved by the government of the Generalitat differs greatly from the demands of the restaurant sector, the culture industries and sports clubs and their despair is understandable. It is difficult not to have empathy for groups that face such a difficult scenario professionally and personally. In the case of restaurants, without a doubt those who have cried out in protest most in recent weeks, the proposal to allow 30% capacity use on both terraces and interior spaces as long as they are well ventilated, with opening hours from 6am to 5pm, is a slight relief but nothing more. In addition, given that these measures will last until December 8th and the next phase will only allow capacity to rise from 30% to 50% for another two weeks, it is difficult to imagine how they can salvage their establishments from the depths in a month so vital to surviving the year.
There will be some who think that this is more than they could have predicted a few weeks ago, and others who will defend that despite the daily improvement in coronavirus data for Catalonia, our guard cannot be lowered. These are very plausible and well-intentioned explanations. But when there is no significant financial aid behind all this, the decisions are extremely difficult to implement for governments and equally difficult to be comprehended by the public, as the threat of business closure is more and more a reality for a third of the sector. It is the duty of journalists to listen to the sectors affected, and to the administrations, and try to explain as best they can the demands of some and the difficulties of others, so that readers can draw their own conclusions. In the same way that the obligation of the politician is to consult with as many experts as possible - scientists and doctors in this case - to reach the best decision. But in the end, the one who governs is not the doctor or the scientist, and not the employer or the worker. The government is the body who, with all the elements on the table, makes the best decision within its capacity, taking into account both the present and the future.
The key, in times of so much uncertainty, lies in finding the best path between those who want to go faster and those who expect everything to be absolutely under control before taking any steps. And, in the middle, thousands of deaths, that have already reached the barbarous number of 15,200 in Catalonia since the beginning of the pandemic.