While I was preparing for the oposición (an exam for a life-time public sector job), I studied the Spanish Organic Law 4/1981 on the states of alarm, emergency and siege. 23F (1981 Spanish coup d’état attempt) came to mind and indeed I never thought that I would actually live through one of these situations, because it was unimaginable that the world as we know it could turn around 180°, leaving us upside-down, and that, is what has happened.
I am a huge advocate of the welfare state and I am very proud to be Spanish. I am proud of my country and my compatriots and I am a staunch defender of the social, democratic state under the rule of law. I support the tax system that helps sustain public expenditure so that we can all benefit from the welfare state, have education and public health, but here’s the thing, welfare is not free.
Our country does not depend on its own Central Bank, but rather the EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, our economy is not capable of self-managing the economic consequences of this crisis. When we have asked our European partners to help the answer has been no, so we have to rely on our own abilities to get out of the economic crisis that this pandemic will leave us in.
There are two obvious battles in this war, the first is now being fought by the healthcare workers and the second battle will be fought by businesspeople and their employees later on. It is all of them, who will contribute, with their daily hard work and effort, with the proven resistance and resilience of those doing the donkey work, to overcoming the pandemic and its economic consequences. For that reason I am dedicating this article to everyone who will fight in the second battle that will be quieter, it won’t get so much media coverage, but it will last longer and go deeper than the first, because the destroyed business sector won’t recover 100% and therefore the jobs associated with it won’t either, it is clear and simple. To all of you who are propping up the welfare state, to everyone who is working very hard to maintain and adjust the structure to what will come in the near future and who believe in a job well done, to you all, our clients, friends and readers, and to all my colleagues, partners and friends of GESEM, I would like to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude and give you all a big round of applause today.
THANK YOU FOR BEING THE SECOND BATALLION of this War.
Laura Vicente – Partner and General Manager
