Letter from... Spain

By Elena Gallego Díez-Canseco

The situation in Spain is extremely frightening. The vast majority of the current population have never experienced a situation like this and the nearest thing that our elders have to compare to this is perhaps the War of many decades ago. We’re experiencing the novelty of true uncertainty and the fear which comes with it.

Aristotle said that "man is by nature a social animal", at present it feels like the great philosopher was referring to our country. Lockdown? Stay home? In Spain this is complex, difficult: we have many hours of sunshine, bars & pubs on every corner, and additionally, the spring has just flooded through our windows filling everywhere with flowers, smells and bright colours.

But, despite this, we are complying with it and fully aware of the fact that this virus will be defeated if we fight together. We stay at home, without going out, with the only consolation of looking through the window from time to time, sighing for a ray of sunlight or for a gentle breeze to come in from outside.

With our living room, dining room or kitchen turned into offices, we are all continuing as best we can. We are permanently connected to each other virtually, contacting our clients to provide support through webinars and Skype calls. We are taking advantage of every occasion that arises to transform a difficulty into an opportunity, whilst also taking comfort in the fact that we are facing this exceptional situation more united than ever before. A solid network and foundation of colleagues has never been more crucial.

But not all is bad. We are in the second week of lockdown and expressions of solidarity happen in hundreds. There is not a day that we do not shed a tear when listening to the news or stories, and there is not a night when we don’t go to bed thinking “what can I do?”.

For now, see you at 8 p.m. on the balconies to applaud ...

Keep well and safe.