Although the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, continues to argue the merits of his executive's management of the coronavirus pandemic, the complaints continue to rain down on him. Over 47% of Spaniards give his performance a "fail" grade and world assessments also tend to be highly critical and concerned. A new example comes from the prestigious US business magazine Forbes, which has published a series of rankings that assess government measures against Covid-19 and list the countries which are safest to live in during the health crisis.
In the Top 40 of the safest countries in the world against coronavirus, Spain is neither present and nor expected. The highest positions go to Israel, Germany, South Korea and Australia, while the tail end of the Top 40 chart is occupied by Oman, Slovakia, Latvia and Slovenia. Spain doesn't even appear. Neither do Italy or the United States, the countries most affected in terms of numbers of deaths.
However, it doesn't end there. In a separate ranking focused only on European countries, Spain comes in last on the safety scale. The Forbes analysis concludes it is the least safe country on the continent, behind Italy and the United Kingdom, in this new and complex era. It occupies a tough 33rd place out of 33.
The classification, researched by the DKV Venture Capital group, is based on a list of 24 criteria, grouped into four major categories: virus monitoring and detection, government management efficiency, emergency treatment readiness and quarantine efficiency. The study focuses not only on safety in terms of personal health but also "safety and stability in the broadest sense, including protection from extreme negative outcomes as a result of the pandemic beyond health."