The mistake of fighting a pandemic in 17 different ways

IF ONE thing has been proven right in this 'second wave' of coronavirus infections here in Spain is that the regional government system is not favouring the country's fight against this plague.

Back in March, a harsh and difficult decision was made and, reluctantly, supported by the majority of MPs. A nationwide state of emergency that placed the country under the hardest lockdown in Europe was decreed.

Regional governments were up in arms, especially

Cataluña of course, with separatists crying this was Madrid's latest attempt to 'centralise' everything and with President Torra and his minions openly stating that if Cataluña had been independent, it would have fared far better that under 'the Spanish state'.

Madrid also had its moan as its PP president Isabel Diaz Ayuso decided it was her chance to make this a political issue.

Yes, we all suffered the lockdown agony and many still are under its economic effects, but one truth has to be told: the single front to fight the pandemic managed to pull Spain out of the 'first' wave in under two months.

As soon as the worst was over, parties and regional governments were again crying out loud - the same ones leading the way - demanding their authority was returned to them... and so it was.

Since then the battlefield has been split in 17 and every region has been fending for themselves... as requested.

The outcome speaks for itself. Spain has gone from being praised for its very effective way of flattening the curve of infections and deaths by the end of May, to leading the second wave in Europe and having 165 countries banning or strongly advising their citizens from against visiting Spain - a country that largely depends on tourism income.

Having 17 different armies facing a lethal enemy is simply not working. New daily cases are now counted by several thousand and hospital admissions are gradually increasing with some on the verge of collapsing again.

Admittedly, the figures in some regions are better that in others, but this is Spain, people travel around a lot and apart from where they live, they also have their 'pueblo' of origin which they visit frequently - and of course there is 'Mom's pueblo', 'Dad's pueblo' and a long lists of 'Tios' pueblos'.

Spain is a fun-seeking nation, a feature the world loves. But under these circumstances is has become the enemy within, and despite the warnings there seems to be no stopping families, friends and other groups from joining up to party.

If the single front strategy worked once, why not try it again? Indeed the same draconian lockdown cannot be applied as Spain's economy would simply go down the drain, but a single set of rules on social gatherings, opening times, the wearing of face masks, smoking, and many other issues would go a long way towards bringing the number back down again.

Sadly, it doesn't seem to be the PM's strategy and now we are heading towards 17 different 'states of emergency' and 17 different ways of sending children to school amid the pandemic.

Covid-19 is a single enemy; it knows nothing of Catalans, Madrileños, Valencianos, Andaluces or Murcianos. It doesn't distinguish Spanish, English or Korean, it simply spreads and, unless it is presented with a united front, there is little hope for keeping it at bay - it was done once thanks to a central ruling, can we please do it again for the sakes of our health and our economy?