The Spanish government is currently working on at least three different levels to combat the coronavirus crisis. One is the here and now, and which involves practically the entire executive, with the four key ministries – Health, Interior, Transportation and Defence – in charge, taking decisions every day to try to control the health emergency and alleviate the effects it is having on the economy.
The other, the long term, which includes economic and social reconstruction, is being worked on by the Finance Ministry. Its remit includes getting the 2021 budget passed by Congress, something that will require the support of other parties given that the Socialist Party-Unidas Podemos coalition government does not have a working majority. And a third group, which is working away from the spotlight, is focused on the medium term, and how the deescalation of confinement measures will be carried out. A much more difficult task than you would first imagine.
This group is being coordinated by Teresa Ribera, one of Spain’s deputy prime ministers and also the minister for environmental transition. Health Minister Salvador Illa is also an active member of the group, given his constant contact with scientific experts and the regional health chiefs.
The taskforce is meeting on a very discreet basis, with other ministers who are outside of the central core of those managing the crisis, such as Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya, who is in permanent contact with her counterparts in the other countries affected by the coronavirus pandemic, and who provides information about the measures being taken elsewhere. The taskforce also includes José Luis Escrivá, the social security minister and a renowned economist, who is providing a technical vision.
As well as politicians, the group includes a wide range of technical experts, not just epidemiologists and economists. This committee will be making proposals to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez as to the measures that should be taken when the deescalation of the confinement begins. Sources from the executive explain that this will be a particularly complex phase, and extreme care is being taken.
They are working on the assumption that it is essential to begin thinking about these measures so that they can be adopted from 26th April, which is when the current state of alarm is due to expire. For example, there is the possibility that children could be allowed to leave their homes for exercise and/or play. As, of course, currently in Spain the confinement measures are almost total, with people only allowed to leave their homes under very strict circumstances.
The taskforce is basing its decisions on all kinds of documents from both Spanish and international experts. Ribera is working discreetly, and is unwilling at this point to reveal exactly who these experts are or the approaches that they are preparing, but has also expanded the group with new expert additions.
Regional involvement
According to Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, a further 17 people will be joining this group, as appointed by each of Spain’s regional governments. The 17 regional premiers have been insisting that they want to participate in the decision-making ahead of the deescalation, and as such the Prime Minister has offered each region the chance to incorporate a technical expert of their choosing into the taskforce.
One of the areas that the regions are insisting on is the chance to deescalate in different ways according to their specific region, given that not all of them are in the same situation. The Canary Islands, for example, is one of the areas of Spain that has the situation most under control, given its insular nature and could trial a lockdown end.
However, sources from the executive insist that the decision has not yet been taken, but the government does not appear particularly keen to take different measures in different areas, given that it believes that this could generate more problems than it will solve.