We live longer, but we live worse. Spain is one of the countries with the highest life expectancy in Europe, sharing the podium with Italy and Sweden with 84 years. However, things change when you focus on countries living longer, quality lives. There, Spain plummets to ninth place, overtaken by countries such as Sweden, Malta and Ireland. Longevity, in our country, does not go hand in hand with health. This is the main conclusion of a population study carried out by the BBVA Foundation in collaboration with the Valencian Institute of Economic Research (IVIE).
Upon reaching the age of 65, a Spaniard has a long but not very encouraging future ahead of him. You can expect to live almost 22 years longer, but less than half will be quality: just over 10. Partly it is the law of life, but it is a relative law. Old age is a constant process that can progressively erode a life, undermining its final years. But it can also be a sort of collapse. This is, according to experts, the ideal scenario: living in quality until the end, and weakening only in the last few months. And there are countries that come close to this ideal. In Sweden, life expectancy at retirement is lower than in Spain (21 years), but almost 14 of these years will be lived without disability. They live a little less, but several years better.
This analysis also reflects clear differences regarding gender. Women in Spain live longer than men. But their extra 3.8 years are spent with disabilities, disorders or health problems. “If we didn’t take this into account, the life expectancy of both sexes would be practically the same,” explains Ángel Sóller, vice-dean of the Faculty of Economics at the University of Valencia and lead author of the study.
It raises demographic and political questions, but ultimately also moral, intimate and, to a certain extent, disturbing questions. Is it better to live less and better or survive at all costs? This is not a dichotomy, Sóller understands, as he claims to live longer and better. And he believes this can be achieved with a change in social policies. “Policies should be rethought to promote healthy lifestyles, promote active aging programs and promote support networks. It is very important to be an active part of society, whether through politics, associations, foundations…”.
Dolors Majoral Puig, 74 years old, meets all these points perfectly. Once a week he meets the wave of retirees from Saint Boi de Llobregat, his town. Even with the neighborhood association. And with her colleagues in the feminist movement. He has been doing this since he was involved in the creation of the legendary Ca la Dona space in Barcelona in the 1970s, and now watches with joy as the new generations take over. “It’s very enriching, this intergenerational exchange,” he says. “There are great, great, great 20-year-olds.” He also collaborates, whenever he can, with the Enllaç foundation, which accompanies and supports LGTBIQ+ elderly people. It has classes of water aerobics twice a week. And a wife, many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, relatives and friends with whom he often meets. “The truth is, I don’t have time to be bored,” she says amused.
Majoral also has ailments. He experiences back pain many afternoons when he returns home from his many commitments. But he plans to continue as long as his body can hold out. And he believes that this insistence on continuing, that desire to resist, is part of his secret. “You have to stay active, the chair traps you and it’s very negative.” They may not use these words, but this is the same conclusion that hundreds of studies on longevity and quality of life have reached. For example, a meta-analysis of 148 studies involving more than 300,000 people found that social relationships were associated with longer life expectancy. According to the authors, the effect is comparable to classic risk factors, such as smoking.
In today’s society we take for granted that our bodies and minds will deteriorate, that we may die weak, dependent or alone. Paradoxically this result is a sort of success. For much of history, humans did not live long enough to cope with decrepitude. Science and social progress are constantly increasing life expectancy. Some longevity experts argue that we have encountered a biological barrier, but at the moment, in the field of population studies, that wall does not appear. “We are increasing life expectancy at a rate of 0.2 years for each year that passes, except for the year of the pandemic,” explains Sóller. This is data that reflects their study, which is part of the Socioeconomics research program shared by FBBVA and IVIE.
However, the disorders continue to appear at about the same age. There have been no significant changes in this regard. And this can have consequences. “People are living longer, but not necessarily healthier.” This is the eloquent title of a study published in the scientific journal Naturein 2024, which warned that the gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy is widening. The largest differences occurred in Europe, while less marked differences were found in Africa. Projections for 2100 predicted a continued widening of this gap in all regions.
For this reason, lately in medicine, sociology and politics, we are starting to place emphasis on quality and not quantity. There isn’t so much a figure to reach as if it were a goal, a competition. And there’s more emphasis on making the path to that goal, that end, enjoyable. Ultimately, life (and death) cannot be reduced to a number.
