When my daughter was born in 2007, a few weeks later we saw her pupils moving vigorously from side to side. My partner and I, both novices, didn’t think it was anything important, but we took her to the health center. What they told us was shocking: what was happening to him was called congenital nystagmus and it was a symptom, not the disease; You had to look for the cause. In any case, the nystagmus had no cure and her vision was severely impaired, so much so that she could even go blind. Overwhelmed by the situation, we asked if there was any hope, even through private healthcare. The kind doctor’s response was clear and strong: “You will not find in the private sector the resources and doctors that are in the public sector”. And so it was. I have told this story many times while defending the importance of public health. But for a few years now everyone has been answering the same thing: “But how long ago did this happen?” And not much time has passed, but unfortunately today the answer the doctor gave us seems from another era.
Pedro Cos. Madrid
Impunity
The president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Msgr. Luis Argüello, announces that the resignation of the bishop of Cadiz, canonically investigated for accusations of pedophilia, could soon be accepted, as if this acceptance were the definitive solution to a conflict in which the Vatican and the Episcopal Conference have turned a deaf ear for many years. The Guarantor estimates that the total number of victims could reach 440,000. And after “acceptance”, what? Nothing more, it all ends there, there are no criminal consequences, will Monsignor Rafael Zornoza not appear before the courts, or will he go directly to one of those sacred retirement homes that the Church has prepared for these heartless people?
Candido Barral Alvarellos. In Coruna
Apartments on Telegram
I never thought that we would buy apartments on Telegram, with the simple touch of a message, like someone participating in a quick lottery. In a few minutes, an apartment changes hands without the buyer having seen it, without knowing who will live there and without worrying about anything other than one number: profitability. This phenomenon does not arise by chance. We have transformed the fundamental right to housing into another financial product. And while investors compete for returns, thousands of people compete for something much simpler: to be able to live in their own city. Every express operation has a silent effect: it makes entire neighborhoods more expensive, displaces neighbors, and turns real cities into remote investment committees.
Laura Martínez-Alcocer Cid. La Llagosta (Barcelona)
Alone and abandoned
It is very painful for me to observe the situation of many elderly people who, having reached the point of no longer being able to live alone, find themselves facing a lack of places in public residences. If they don’t have the resources to pay for a private one, what options do they have? It is dramatic to think that, at the end of their lives, many find themselves alone and with very high levels of anxiety.
Almudena Hidalgo Garcia. Salamanca
