The COVID-19 crisis has hit the Spanish economy like no other in Europe. In addition to the slump in tourism and the service sector, our export power has also suffered due to falling demand and the trade tensions that had begun before the pandemic. Where should we focus our reconstruction efforts? It is possible that the COVID-19 tragedy will allow the Spanish economy to be transformed on radically different bases and find new axes on which to establish future welfare. European aid will require reforms to correct some of the endemic problems in our production structure. Never before has the need to get priorities and reforms right been so apparent.

According to political scientist Ivan Krastev, one of the paradoxes of COVID-19 is that it has accelerated the trend towards deglobalisation which began during the Great Recession of 2008-2009, while simultaneously showing the limits of renationalisation. We want strong States, capable of stockpiling the necessary supplies to tackle the crisis, but we also know that the scale of the pandemic far exceeds the capacity of most countries to face it alone.

Just a few months before the USA elections, international leadership there seems to be increasingly blurred; nor has Chinese power emerged unscathed from what has occurred in recent months, making the world more unstable than it was even before the pandemic. The race for the vaccine is just the latest episode of the global struggle between the two superpowers. A competition that goes far beyond economic rivalry and is increasingly a global dispute, from the military to technology, from trade to strategy. We are facing what experts already define as a hotter Cold War than the first one. Aware of its own crisis and the resolution of Brexit, Europe has a new opportunity to define its necessary leadership on the new geopolitical scene.

Europe has responded to this pandemic with a previously unseen ambition and determination. The leading role of the European Central Bank in sustaining the liquidity of the economy and the reconstruction funds approved by the European Council last July point to a hopeful future for the continent. Without the British slowing down further integration, the Franco-German axis has managed to impose an effective European response to the crisis. However, the powerful figure of Angela Merkel is about to leave the political stage and divisions between the “frugal”, “pro-cohesion” and “Visegrád” blocks, which are becoming increasingly entrenched, do not augur well for a bright future in European politics.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an extraordinary impact on our social life, consumption habits, relationships, education, politics, etc. Everything has been affected by a situation that was unimaginable in our once certain world.
Of the multiple phenomena that we are witnessing, the ‘double crisis’ suffered by younger generations is perhaps the most concerning one. Young people are the first to be expelled from the labour market in times of crisis, and it is they who hold the least stable and lowest paid jobs. Their political representation is scarce, and inter-generational solidarity–that decisive element of social cohesion–doesn’t seem to address their urgencies or priorities. The crisis that we are facing can only be overcome if we consider the values that allow an advanced democracy and an open society to function. But in the search for solutions, dialogue between different generations of leaders is essential to share experiences, sensitivities and proposals.

The pandemic has sharply accelerated the process of intense digitisation in which our societies were engaged. Teleworking, online education, online assistance, e-commerce and electronic administration have been implemented in all areas during this pandemic, the consequences of which would have been even worse without the support of digital technology.

This crisis has also allowed us to appreciate the importance and value of next-generation broadband networks. Over the past few years we have heard what sounded like a slogan: Spain has more fibre optic connections than France, Germany and the United Kingdom combined. Thanks to this, during the pandemic we have been able to work from home, home school and meet with friends and family virtually during lockdown.

The pandemic has helped us all to understand the depth of public debate on data collection and the limits of such control. Digital tracing tools have served as the testing ground for the use of our data and our right to privacy.

Another far-reaching division has been created in our societies: remote workers and on-site workers. While the former have the training and resources to adapt to the post-pandemic world, the latter risk being the big losers when, paradoxically, their role was crucial during lockdown.