• Direct. Last minute about the Covid-19 pandemic
  • Analysis of Lucía Méndez.The Pedro Sánchez war
  • Tribuna de Fernando Caballero. It looks like a war
  • Opinion of José Ignacio Torreblanca.

Spanish historians such as Carmen Iglesias, Gonzalo Pontón or Xosé Manoel Núñez Seixas have referred to the use of a warlike language to refer to the health crisis caused by the coronavirus, recalling that the current situation "has nothing to do with a war" .

"I am fighting it from the beginning, this has nothing to do with a war. In wars it is assumed that there are physical enemies and there is a will to war in those who decide and, looking at the current pandemic, it does not respond to the evidence of the facts, "said the director of the Royal Academy of History, Carmen Iglesias.

For Iglesias, the current health crisis is "a tragedy with many deaths" which, however, compared to the World Wars of the 20th century "may seem less." "But for us, who have other means, it is a lot. And, above all, the deaths we are witnessing, with people who die alone: ​​that of the elderly has been terrifying," he lamented.

Meanwhile, Seixas, referring to the language of war, understands that " a certain epic is being sought , because you have to mobilize the population." However, the 2019 National Essay Prize understands that this 'epic' can become "counterproductive" and have the opposite effect to that desired.

"You want to take advantage of the crisis to reinforce solidarity values, but it is peculiar, because we are each in our homes. It is not the same as being in a trench against the enemy: now there is also fear that your neighbor may infect you. It is an epic that can backfire, because sometimes the border between the sublime and the ridiculous is very thin, "said the historian.

Pontoon, who won the National Essay Prize in 2017 for his work 'The fight for inequality', differs somewhat from this position, remembering that the language "is free and allows all kinds of metaphors", in addition to qualifying that referring to the Illness like a war is not directed at "the struggle of a few specialists, but at consequences: what will happen when it ends."

" There is also talk of a Marshall Plan , the elites are more concerned with how we will fight the war, even if cannons are not manufactured, people are not recruited, and weapons are not stored. That thought is reasonable, because if the situation continues, the consequences are going to lead to a very tragic situation ", has alerted Pontón, for whom this thought comes from" a supervening situation for which he was not prepared ".

Seixás, a resident in Germany for several years, also points to another situation related to the war issue that has caught his attention: the presence of the military or high positions of state forces at press conferences. "This is something quite specific to Spain . In Germany it is striking that a uniformed man comes out to count how many infractions there have been," he said.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Germany
  • Spain
  • Pedro Sánchez
  • Coronavirus
  • Covid 19
  • culture
  • history

THE WORLD WIDE IN PARJared Diamond: "I can promise that another new health emergency will emerge in China in the future"

CultureAnne Applebaum: "I am sure that some governments will fall due to the coronavirus crisis"

InterviewPablo Casado: "I will support Sánchez to save lives, not to ruin Spain"