Good times are coming / I hear it wherever I go / Good times are coming / But surely they are coming slowly ”. If it were not for the length of the stanza, there would be no better headline for this report or for these times. Neil Young wrote it back in 1974 and it is part of the lyrics of his song Vampire Blues. It was 46 years before the advent of the modern plague, so the unconsciously premonitory ability of the Toronto bard is frightening. Of course, in this situation it is also worth remembering Albert Camus. There has been and is so much the intensity of the drama and the margin of confusion projected on people that often, depending on what moments of weakness, the lurking sensation is too similar to that of poor Meursault in The Stranger: sometimes one seems to see oneself from outside and life in general from a train, as if one were alien to it.
These very human sensations — disbelief, skepticism, hope, confusion — largely frame this collective reflection set up by a group of characters as heterogeneous as they are authorized. It was about counting the impressions of what was lived and the forecast of what is to come. Hopefully those are good times ... even if they are slow. The covid-19 earthquake has shown the dimension of a common vulnerability, that of mankind.
It is the vision of Audrey Azoulay (Paris, 1972), Director-General of Unesco: “This is evident in a crisis such as that of the coronavirus, but also in other more damaging ones such as those affecting the biosphere and climate. There is a causal relationship between the destruction of wild spaces, especially forests, and the collapse of biodiversity and the increase in the number of epidemics. " In his eyes, another major impact is the momentary death of culture: “An overwhelming majority of movie theaters, bookstores, theaters, concert halls, museums and libraries have closed. Countless festivals have been postponed, if not suppressed. This is undoubtedly the most serious crisis in the world in this sector in which we have invested so much in the last 30 years and which is an engine of employment and creation. The cultural ecosystem needs the commitment of public and private investors. But we must also take into account the profound transformations that are already underway. This crisis will enshrine the central role of digital and artificial intelligence in the economy. And for culture, things will not be different ”.
A clear reason for concern for Audrey Azoulay focuses on the future of international relations and cooperation. He explains it this way: "The most immediate reflection in this crisis is based on emotions, and it is that 'save yourself who can' that there was on the part of some to get masks or when presenting to their public opinion scapegoats in what it supposes An ancient rhetoric. From that point of view, it is feared that the pandemic may deepen the cracks that already existed in international relations, which generally put relations of force before the general interest, causing a general regression. "
Gianni Vattimo (Turin, 1936). In a telephone conversation from his home in Turin, the philosopher of weak thought, who is in a delicate state of health, establishes his fears: “Many things are going to change at the level of international relations. Many countries are in situations of real poverty. I often think that only communism could save the situation: only a radical change in social relations and production structures would serve to change things. And Europe needs new economic regulations so that its partners have the real possibility of helping each other more. I think there is going to be a general feeling of fear among people. "
Nick cave
Composer and singer
"From now on, we will be given the opportunity either to reduce ourselves to the old version of ourselves - an isolated, selfish and tribal world - or to understand the connection that all humans have"
Vattimo's European concern is shared by his colleague the French thinker and writer Gilles Lipovetsky (Millau, France, 1944): “This crisis will provoke transformations of a political and economic order, especially in the sphere of the European Union. The criteria of not exceeding 3% of the deficit in relation to GDP have been far exceeded. So the management criteria are going to change to face the crisis that is coming, and that is important for a Europe that until now was subject to the German diktat of budgetary rigor and that countries like France, Italy or Spain do not share, "he explains. The author of The Age of Void, who believes that this crisis should somewhat calm the process of globalization, “because, for example, a cruel absence of sanitary sovereignty by some countries, such as France or Spain, has already been verified. "
Will there be major changes in the way of life and social relations? "I am skeptical about that," admits Lipovetsky, "I do not think that this crisis will radically transform people's behavior, nor the taste for travel, nor consumerism, nor the leisure industry. All of that will be reborn, even more forcefully to offset the austerity of confinement. I don't see the Spanish leaving the Puerta del Sol or the Ramblas to go for a walk and have a drink. Yes, there will be more protection measures, which could be installed as a stable standard. Incidentally, that would be perfectly consistent with societies that, like ours, have been obsessed for decades with safety, healthy living and health. ”
Nuccio Ordine (Diamond, Italy, 1958), the Italian thinker, teacher and writer who coined in a superb essay the concept The usefulness of the useless, highlights the fact that there is a phrase that is repeated non-stop in these times of pandemic: "Nothing will be like before." And he reflects on it: "But I think this will depend on the answer given to this essential question: 'Who will pay for the crisis?' Yes, as has happened other times in history, those who pay it are again the poor, the voiceless, the weaker, then everything will continue as before or worse than before. To continue to believe that the free market can regulate everything is crazy: the terrible inequalities, the fierce nationalisms, the selfishness and the racism, the weakening of public health and education, the contempt for solidarity, are the result of this rapacious neoliberalism. An invisible virus has been enough to bring the world to its knees and show its contradictions ... ".
Brigitte Bardot
Actress and animal rights activist
"There are 5 billion more human beings on the planet. And we are the only species that has managed to make itself be hated by all the others"
It is also a key moment - says the professor of Italian Literature at the University of Calabria and a regular at Harvard, Yale or La Sorbonne - to stop and tune up. Notice to sailors: "Confinement has slowed down the rhythm of our lives. It is an opportunity to appreciate the benefits of slowness, of reflection, of seclusion: reading a book, listening to music, admiring a work of art is the best way to cultivate our own humanity. Away from our family and friends, we are realizing that we need others to live. These are values that literature and other knowledge unjustly defined as useless - because they do not produce profits - have always reminded us ", explains Ordine, who advises not to forget the possible lessons learned: "In order to be better we should not forget what we have learned. In times of pandemic, Camus teaches us, he becomes aware above all of the sufferings and injustices that afflict the humiliated And this must be remembered. Books are written, as Stefan Zweig explains, so as not to forget solidarity: 'Books are only written so that, beyond one's own breath, they unite human beings, and thus defend ourselves against the inexorable reverse of all existence: transience and oblivion. ' Literature and knowledge are essential instruments to keep alive the struggle of memory against the nefarious power of oblivion. "
Juan Gabriel Vásquez (Bogotá, 1973) has been locked up in his apartment in the capital of Colombia for two months. The writer and author of Songs for the Fire is quite pessimistic towards the post-coronavirus world: "There will be a regression to a tribal mentality," he points out. And he adds: “Globalization has never been free of problems, but in the last 30 years it had come hand in hand with various openings - mental, cultural, political -; The pandemic, which surprised us at the height of new nationalisms, in full return to identity politics, will destroy these conquests. It will strengthen the gaze within, give oxygen to xenophobias and lend an alibi to the politicization of everything: from migration to free trade agreements. We will return to a border mentality ”.
"A distrustful and, above all, disoriented society awaits us: it does not know where the truth is because it has willingly given itself up to the disinformation of social networks," adds Vásquez. "The pandemic has put us in front of an idea that causes allergies to politicians: there are situations where only you lose. In the coronavirus society, the winner in health policy is the executioner in economic policy, and vice versa. That has led our leaders to paralysis, neglect, or authoritarianism. " In his opinion, the conclusion is clear: “We citizens depend more than ever on ourselves. We have realized the profound effect our behavior has on others. This may be a reason for optimism. "
Ferran Adrià (Hospitalet de Llobregat, 1962) was the best chef in the world at the helm of elBulli. It will never stop being, it will die with the apron on. But for a while it's been much more than that. Now he is a researcher (fully involved in the Sapiens project, whose motto could be "Understand to innovate, innovate to understand"). The usual dialectical volcano rumbles from the other side of the phone: “The priority issue is that we want the vaccine and we want it tomorrow. And this is going to mark the priority in investments, in artificial intelligence, in biotechnology, in molecular biology, in genetics and in disruptive innovation; that is, real innovation. In the last 10,000 years we have achieved what we have always achieved thanks to innovation, and the rest are strange stories. ” Another priority 'axis' of concern in the eyes of Adrià in order to counteract the terrible economic effects that are expected is that of the real capacity for business management ... or the lack of it: "At the economic and business level, we must do understand any entrepreneur that the issue of management is essential. Anyone who runs a small business has to have notions of what management is, even if they are small. Economic survival goes through this. 50% of SMEs do not last even five years. 22% does not last two years. This is data, huh ?, and has a lot to do with management. That 'this is what my manager takes me', no, this does not work like this. We need a true company culture. "
As for the ritual of eating, drinking and enjoying together, the chef has it so clear: “The idea of meeting in a restaurant will continue to live. For a time you will have to be careful with the crowds, but you will return. People are going to want to live life again. " That, provided that the tourism industry manages to overcome the serious dangers looming over it, clarifies: “Tourism must be defended. Spain is very good at tourism innovation. Hear now say to some that no, that they already predicted it, and that if tourism does not, and that if such ... it is a drama. Tourism is basic for this country and you have to invest in it ”.
Giovanna D'Esposito
President of Uber / Southern Europe
"The combination of different mobility alternatives, VTC, taxis, scooters, motorcycles and bicycles, including public transport will be key to a safe and sustainable return to normality"
The effervescent voice of Miquel Barceló (Felanitx, Mallorca, 1957) sneaks in by phone from his house-workshop in Artà, Mallorca, where he has been confined for two months. The most internationally recognized Spanish artist explains: “Everything that is a market is going to be greatly affected by this crisis, and therefore the art market as well. What I hope is that something good comes out of this, especially in the spiritual field, that things change at the level of human demand. But hey, we are going to have a terrible time. And I'm not talking about Spain or Europe. I speak of the world in general. Because we believe that we are like a bit at the end of this — what if lack of control, what if de-escalation; By the way, ugly words, I do not know who chooses them, they should ask someone like Pere Gimferrer to choose the important terms—, but in places like Asia or Africa what has yet to be seen has yet to be seen. I believe that we are not at the end of anything, but at the beginning of something that can be very long. And we are not able to see this as something global. It is normal. People are up to their nerves and want to go out and live the life of before…, which will not be ”.
Leo Messi
Soccer player.
"Football, like life in general, I think it will never be the same"
Rafael Nadal
Tennis player
"What difference does it make to me if this is arranged by Vox, the PP, Podemos or the PSOE! Let us get out of this whatever! ”
The director of the Reina Sofía Museum, Manuel Borja-Villel (Burriana, Castellón, 1957), coincides with the fact that “life from before” will not coincide, who believes in the need —in fatality— to extract lessons from what happened. Lessons to be applied in the short future: “For quite a long time, many people complained that the system in which we work in museums was anti-ecological enough - too many trips, biennials, fairs, transfers… - and not very democratic - each time moreover, a few artists, a few gallery owners, and a few collectors control absolutely everything. That in the end was limiting in terms of knowledge, since most of the exhibitions did not promote research. Now the situation has changed. That system, like the rest of society, has been frozen. Obviously, as there is a lot of money behind it, the pressure will continue to return all those masses of people to the museums, but for at least a year or a year and a half that cannot be sustained. We will have to go towards more sustainable, more democratic, more collaborative, slower models, and where the important thing is research, study, and knowledge ”.
What are we going to do the day after? This is the key question that Manuel Borja-Villel asks and asks himself: "One of the things that art and culture have had is the idea of the crowd, that you learn with the other, that you discover different things, from that there are different cultures in other places ... and that requires seeing oneself, not being afraid of the other, contact ... But in a society where there is going to be a fear of touching each other, the danger of this becoming a kind of self-imposed isolation is There are a series of words that are going to be key –solidarity, care, fraternity, but not a paternalistic fraternity but one where there is trust of the politicians in the citizens, trust of one in the other… -, and for there I think the change will be important. "
What will happen on the first day of the rest of our lives? Miguel Falomir (Valencia, 1966), director of the Prado: “There are many people who have said and written that the first thing they will do when they leave is go to the Prado. I don't know ... On the other hand, one thinks that the logical thing after being locked up is to go to spaces and not get between four walls ... even if they are walls covered with wonders. But at the same time I think that the saturation of screens and virtual reality that we have experienced has probably made us long for the unique object, the real experience. ” Meanwhile, the forecasts fall like a slab: “We contemplate a fall of 70% of our own income, which for us is fundamental because almost 70% of our budget comes from them. This puts us in an enormously complicated situation. ”
Enrique Cerezo
President of Atlético de Madrid
"Who is going to get into a cinema or a stadium without a total guarantee of security? Now it will be necessary to rebuild minds. And that is complex "
Cristina Garmendia
President of the Cotec Foundation
"Science must be interwoven with society. It will be useless to inject more money if it is not managed well ”
The experience of human contact and emotion for 'live' art will resurface strongly: it is the thesis of Juan Ignacio Vidarte (Bilbao, 1956), general director of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao since 1996 and director of Global Strategy for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation: "I read and listen to demonstrations by people who seem to be very clear on exactly what we are going to change and who like to talk about apocalyptic visions. Of course there are going to be changes but it is hard for me to think that after having After this, we are going to dispense with elements of our life that until very recently were fundamental, forms of socialization, sharing spaces ... and giving more value to things that we took for granted. I believe, for example, that experiences of enjoyment and contact as is the visit to a museum they will be revalued ". And Vidarte clarifies: "We, throughout the confinement, have tried to take advantage of those extraordinary tools that digital technology allows to make the museum accessible, and to continue contributing as far as possible what art means to people: inspiration , distraction, consolation ... this makes many people access artistic content for the first time, and it is a positive thing. Now, this is not an alternative to the real experience of going to the museum. I think it complements it. "
Asked if the world would become a more fearful place, Norman Foster (Stockport, UK, 1935) draws on the past: “This situation is being described as a war and there is much speculation about how the future could change. I still have memories of World War II, when bombs fell from the sky and we wore gas masks to protect ourselves from invisible poisons. Just a decade later, the Cold War, the nuclear threat and nuclear shelters arrived. Normality always prevailed and we maintained our way of life. I grew up with the threat of tuberculosis, at a time when vaccines did not yet exist in the western world. Many children could only breathe through the painful help of the steel lungs, the fans of yesteryear. Everything will return to normal, but over time, not overnight. "
Swiss collector and gallery owner Iwan Wirth (Zurich, 1970) is one of the most powerful characters in the art world today and represents on a commercial level the legacies of Henry Moore, Louise Bourgeois and Eduardo Chillida. "I think art fairs will continue playing a very important role, but the question is how the art fair will be redefined in the future after this crisis, "he explains. “The fair model should evolve”, he adds, “this year we have reduced our presence as a result of a sustainability model that we launched last year and that takes into account the ecological footprint of our participation in art fairs, of the trips and shipments of works that all this implies ”. Wirth is optimistic. “This crisis occurs when the digital world has experienced a huge leap and has provided us with tools that we did not have before. The impact is significant for the art world and for all sectors, but we will have to continue innovating and reconfiguring our way of working to overcome these difficult times. ” In this sense, the Swiss gallery owner and collector who made possible, together with his partner, Manuela Wirth, the reopening of the Chillida-Leku museum in San Sebastián, explains how Hauser & Wirth has 'put its batteries' in the adaptation to the new paradigm : "Necessity is the mother of ingenuity. In all this time we have accelerated many of the digital strategies we were developing. For example, we have organized twelve online exhibitions , launched the virtual platform HWVR and ArtLab, a new division dedicated to technology offering a digital residency program planned for this year in Los Angeles. Technology is not a substitute for human relations, so we have maintained close contact with our team, collectors and curators, and the general public. "
Iñigo Argomaniz (San Sebastián, 1962). The skipper on the GetIn ship - one of the largest live music promoters in Spain - announces it with regret: they have canceled more than 200 shows in Spain and in America, including the tours of La Oreja de Van Gogh and Mikel Erentxun for the United States, and in Spain, those of Pablo Alborán and Andrés Calamaro. Argomaniz is clear about which segment of the industry will suffer the most: “We artists and promoters and managers are privileged. Those who are really going to suffer are the musicians who accompany these artists, the sound technicians, the roadies, the assembly teams, the small concert halls… Anyway, everything that surrounds live music is going to be a real drama. We have a bleak picture. "
And the future in the medium term? “I hope that music continues to be a place of encounter and emotions. That means concerts with an audience. For that, according to the promoter, half measures will not fit: “Everyone talks to me about the capacity, but what do I do? I can take half a capacity to a room of 500 people ... and what do I say, don't get together? At a concert? And what difference does it make if there are 2,000 people or 1,500 in La Riviera? And in the theaters, what do we play, an armchair yes and one no? No, the solution is not to reduce capacity, but to convey to the spectators on the part of Health and promoters that they can go to a concert in peace. You have to endure the wounds, and then go back to the concerts with the measures that the Government decides, but that those measures have logic for economic viability and security. ”
Thomas piketty
Paris School of Economics
"Can the crisis engendered by covid-19 precipitate the adoption of a new, more equitable and durable development model? Yes, but on condition of assuming a clear change of priorities "
Carlos Torres
BBVA President
"The return to normality is not assured in the short term in some sectors"
David Guetta (Paris, 1967). One of the world stars of the DJ scene responds to El País Semanal from his Miami home, where he has been locked up since the day the pandemic was declared. His prognosis for the immediate future of the music industry is not rosy: “Unfortunately, I think it will take a while before things return to the way they were before. When the economy starts to kick in again and as long as social distancing measures continue, I imagine that the music industry will be one of the last to recover. ” The French musician who has been crowding discotheques, clubs and stadiums for years is aware of the impact of the covid-19 on the music industry: “But I don't think we should rush to return to the concerts or the DJ sessions of great affluence, we just have to do it when it's completely safe. ”
Isabel Coixet (Barcelona, 1960) is locked up mounting her new film, Nieva in Benidorm, but she takes time to answer El País Semanal: “The coronavirus is the mother of all metaphors. So obvious, it is not a metaphor. And we will recover, of course, but the cracks - the dead, the unemployment, the precariousness, the collapse of a system of life that we believed to be solid - will still be there. But human beings have an incomparable capacity for forgetfulness and frivolity ”. And the film industry? “Well, the one dedicated to exhibition in theaters will take a long time to recover. My hope is that the public will tire of being at home and want to go out again to the experience of watching tapes in movie theaters. And of course, the industry focused on television and online content will flourish, in fact it is already flourishing. Whatever happens, it is clear that we will have to reinvent ourselves, be more creative than ever. ”
Sanjay Sarma
Vice President of Open Learning at MIT
"It is not so much about rebuilding the world, but adapting it as the crisis progresses. In this way, we will be strengthened"
José Luis Rebordinos (Errenteria, Gipuzkoa, 1961) has directed the San Sebastián Festival since 2011. “The film industry is going to be very touched by all this. Filming already started will never end. And more than one movie theater will never reopen. I am very concerned about the consequences of this crisis for the exhibition sector ”. The 68th edition of the San Sebastian contest has a starting date: September 18. There is no guarantee that it can be held under minimally normal conditions. Despite everything, the mood does not wane: “Film festivals will be very important again. At first it will be difficult to organize them. Restricted capacity, difficulties in having international guests, disinfection of rooms, limited red carpets ... But they will once again be those essential places for meeting and business. And an alternative circuit for the exhibition and promotion of films ”.
And speaking of cinema: Enrique Cerezo (Madrid, 1948) is a film producer and the owner of the main catalog of existing Spanish cinema, which he regularly dispatches through his company FlixOlé. But he has also been president of Atlético de Madrid since 2003. He is, therefore, doubly authorized to confirm the disaster and see the future: “The real problem is how we convince people that nothing will happen to them when they go to a stadium or a cinema room. The key will be that a trust can be installed by the State that the viewer can see a movie and return home safe and sound. And if not, I prefer to continue confinement. There will be a great distrust until they invent a vaccine. And that's the problem, the real 'day after' for all of us. And that in the world of cinema affects production, distribution and exhibition ”. Not to mention soccer: “There are subscribers. If there are 60,000 subscribers and the stadium has 70,000 seats, you will tell me what you are going to do. When is the League going to return? Well, do not ask me, ask the doctors, the technicians and the safety committee, to see when they calculate that it could be! I, with what they calculate, make the mess. But if they don't tell me anything, well I can't ride it ”.
Leo Messi (Rosario, 1987) will not easily forget the shadows of the covid-19, and this is how El País Semanal told him : “Almost everyone is left with the doubt of how the world will be after all what happened. Beyond the confinement and the situation that caught us by surprise, many people had a really bad time because this situation affected them in some way, as it happened with all those who lost their family and friends and could not even barely even fire them. I think there were many negative things in this crisis, but there can be nothing worse than losing the people you love the most, that creates enormous frustration for me and seems to me the most unfair of all. ”
—Hey, football… do you think it will be touched or will it be the same as before?
—Football, like life in general, I think it will never be the same.
All of us who have experienced this situation will remember what happened one way or another. In my case, with a feeling of grief and frustration for those who suffered most from the loss of their loved ones. And also with infinite thanks to all the people who fought to fight the virus from health centers. Soccer and sports in general are sure to be affected. On the economic side, because there are companies that are related to the world of sports that may have a more complex situation after the coronavirus. And in the professional performance part because the return to training, competitions and what was previously done in a normal way, now it is going to have to be implemented again, but progressively. It will be a strange situation for us athletes and for anyone who has to change their usual work dynamics.
Messi's predictions include someone who knows him well. Inma Puig was Barça's psychologist from the 2003-2004 season until 2018 (Messi debuted in October 2004). “The athlete trains with an objective that is to compete in capital letters. Most of the professional athletes what they like is to compete. If we take an example of a soccer player, what he likes is to play, not to train. Training is the obligation, playing is the desire. When the competition stops, they train with no immediate goal. In addition, the professional athlete is used to playing for the public, and the absence of fans can influence the desire to play ... and their performance in some cases. "
Rafa Nadal (Manacor, Mallorca, 1986), for many simply the best Spanish athlete in history, believes that the future has to be neither more nor less than the past: “I imagine the tracks and stadiums full, which is how I like to see them. You have to be patient and find medicine, but I don't believe in looking for a new normal. The new normality will be the one that we accept. I like to see people, hug people, share with people ..., and we have to look for this again. We cannot settle for just eternally complying with distancing measures ”, he comments by phone from his home in Mallorca.
One of the specific problems caused by this crisis that has impacted the tennis world is that of the abrupt interruption of the entire professional circuit and the subsequent situation of players away from the Top-100. A 'relief operation' was launched by those who are at the top of the ladder: "I am part of the Players Council and I think we have a responsibility to try to help the sport prevail in the best possible way," he explains. Nadal. "Different measures have been taken, and one of them is to create a fund for the hundred best players in the world to contribute an amount of money to help the rest of the players, who are having a hard time and are experiencing difficult situations , and many ATP workers. This is a fund to help the world of tennis in general, not just players. In difficult times you are forced to think about the one who is worse than you. "In the end, five and a half million euros were raised to help a total of 800 professional tennis players (400 men and 400 women).
Nadal is concerned. Also angry. "A very complicated future is coming and we are going to need the experience of the best to get out of this," he explains by phone from his home in Mallorca. "I have very clear opinions, but unfortunately I cannot pronounce on whether things are being done well, very well, badly or fatally, because the reality is that what I say in the end is taken as a political issue. We are in such a sensitive moment that everything becomes politicized. What difference does it make to me if Vox, the PP, Podemos, the PSOE, Ciudadanos or whatever! I do not care Casado, Abascal, Arrimadas, Iglesias or Sánchez. That they take us out of this and that we have the least number of deaths possible and the least economic impact possible. But there is a problem in politics, and that is that those who make decisions, unfortunately, always do so thinking that there are new elections. In an ideal world, it would be very positive if, in such a situation, the decision makers were the best in each field and without any political aspiration. ”
Former Minister of Science and Innovation (2008-2011) in the Government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and current president of the Cotec Foundation for Innovation, Cristina Garmendia (San Sebastián, 1962) is clear that the present and the future will have to pay for certain Past mistakes: “If we remember the 2008 crisis, there is no room for optimism. While the countries around us responded by doubling down on their commitment to knowledge, in Spain we responded with cuts. Even the economic recovery did not change the trend. The difference now is that the pandemic has made evident the relationship between R + D + i and public health. At first everyone looked at the health system, now they start looking at the scientific and technological system, demanding tests, treatments and vaccines. It would be logical that this attention would bring a greater interest of the citizen for the investment in knowledge, which in turn would bring more public investment and more incentives to private investment ”.
In his opinion, we will not only need more investment, we will also need a better organization. "What are we missing? Know how to prioritize in the distribution of resources, which are finite; provoke talent alliances and cooperation networks; interweaving science with society. There is no point in injecting more money if it is not managed well. In Spain, successive governments only execute half of the public budget for R&D available, year after year ”. And a matter that worries him greatly: the educational gap. “The confinement has forced to make an emergency digital transition, establishing a home school model. The immediate consequence has been that existing learning gaps have widened and new ones have emerged. Students from families with lower socioeconomic status are left behind. And something worrying: we have analyzed the responses of the directors of the centers in the PISA 2018 survey and we have seen that public centers start out with a notable disadvantage compared to private and concerted ones for the digital transition ”.
At Telepizza, the popular company chaired by Pablo Juantegui (San Sebastián, 1961), the covid-19 crisis has led to full-scale relearning. "It has forced us to learn ways of doing what we have always done, but like we have never done it," explains this Donostia-based executive who controls 3,000 stores around the world and who has not stopped delivering fast food since the beginning of confinement through the protocol called zero contact. “I am optimistic, but I start to tremble thinking about what market we are going to find. There is going to be a huge impact. The level of unemployment is going to be brutal in general. And we are specifically preparing for a new consumer, because we are going to a situation that we have never been faced with and that will not affect the entire Spanish territory equally. The depth of the wound will be greater in areas such as Levante or Andalusia, areas that are much more dependent on the service sector than northern Spain or Madrid are, with different levels of industrialization. The effect in Andalusia and Levante will be devastating. We are going to find a consumer with a brutal sensitivity to price ... and miracles will have to be done. And adapt. We already did it in the 2008-2009 crisis, and that was screwed up, huh? This crisis is going to be deeper but shorter. We are going to live a very complicated 2021 ”.
Isabel Coixet
Filmmaker
"The human being has an enormous capacity for forgetting, everything will oscillate between caution and carpe diem"
For Giovanna d'Esposito, Uber's President for Southwest Europe, establishing security protocols will not be enough. "We have to make sure that these protocols are followed, and this is where technology can play a very important role. We have launched Checklist, a new functionality with which the driver has to confirm in the application that he has followed the security protocol established by the Administration step by step to be able to connect. In order to comply with the mandatory use of a mask, we have developed an object recognition technology that will confirm, through a selfie, that drivers and delivery people wear the mask before connecting. ”
One of the trends that Uber executives have observed in the first countries that emerged from confinement and where economic activity is slowly recovering is the following: "Many people are choosing services like Uber (either by VTC or taxi) for their daily commute to work, often as a substitute for public transport. There is also a rebound in the use of private vehicles, a phenomenon understandable by the need for social distancing, but which can play against the great challenge that lies ahead: that of drastically reducing the use of private vehicles in our cities, "argues D'Esposito.
Sanjay Sarma is Vice President of Open Learning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the world's most prestigious scientific and technological research centers. He heads the MIT Leadership working group, whose objective is to help the institution move towards distance learning. They have had to make virtue of necessity: “We miss seeing students and colleagues in person. But the wonderful thing about this place is the passion for finding solutions to great challenges. Thanks to the creation of educational formats such as massive and open online courses and webinars , we have turned many of our face-to-face events into successful digital experiences and created virtual classes. The MIT Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab has just wrapped up a month-long international summit on online education that started as a one-week face-to-face conference. ”
Marie-France Hirigoyen (Coulaines, France, 1948). “The brutal interruption of a 'normal life' has destabilized many people. To the most fragile, due to an exacerbation of their previous symptoms. And all of us because we have lost our certainties. " It is the diagnosis of the great French psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, author of the recent book Daffodils have taken power and who coined the concept of moral harassment in 1998 . "The symptoms that psychiatrists are encountering are, above all, sleep problems and anxiety problems that can turn into panic attacks. The anguish comes from the fact that danger is invisible and can be found everywhere, leading us to fear for our death and that of our loved ones. Confinement has come to brutally disrupt our demands for individual freedom and our intolerance of frustration. She has taught us a lesson in humility and reminded us of our fragility. "
At this point, Hirigoyen wants to evoke that narcissistic world that he describes in his last book: “In that world, overwhelmed by interactions and consumption, there is no room to think. Homebound, you are confronted with what you really are. For certain very active people and on the verge of burnout , confinement has given them at first a form of peace and serenity, blaming them for their aspiration to have less pressure. ”
How and how much have the pandemic and all its fringes changed us? At a professional level and like millions of people, of course his Barcelona colleague Inma Puig has suffered it firsthand: "There is a phrase by Mario Benedetti that describes how we are now: 'When we believed that we had all the answers, the questions changed "She explains." In my work as a clinical psychologist, changes are already showing up. Changes in the increase in demand and the reasons for it. Uncertainty leads to increased anxiety, and increased anxiety leads to increased demand. But for me, the big change is working online. This implies changes in a large number of professions, but in that of the therapist they are especially significant, specifically with regard to setting or framing. Commuting to the professional's office to receive therapy is not the same as being at home and receiving the therapist through the screen. "
Inma Puig considers the task of intuiting how things are going to happen “arduous”: “It is difficult to predict the future from a present conditioned by the past. It is clear that future and innovation go hand in hand. According to the dictionary of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language, to innovate is to do what was previously done with the intention of improvement, and this situation has revealed that there are many things where it is essential to innovate or, what is himself, improve ”. She also believes that it is time to ask the transcendental questions. “A common question is what to do, but there is something more important than knowing what to do: knowing what not to do in order not to incur iatrogenesis, a word we rarely use, but which we often incur . Now it is as if we were in a game of chess. And in any chess game the first movements are those that will mark the subsequent movements and, on numerous occasions, the evolution of the game. The present surprises us, among other things, with applications that measure emotions in real time. And the future will bring us things that we cannot even imagine. ”
SPECIAL Notes from the future
The mysteries of SARS-CoV-19, a bad bug
There are still more unknowns than certainties around the covid-19. Doctors in ICUs add symptoms and complications. Like the dreaded cytokine storm, the cause of which remains a mystery
And now ... how will we travel?
One of the first escapes to the safety distance in a swimsuit. Proximity, prevention, sustainability, nature and technology permeate the coming tourism
Privacy: totalitarian risk
Geolocation control, surveillance by electronic wristbands, facial recognition. Governments and citizens doubt between security and freedom. This may be the great technological debate of the 21st century.
A new world order
The virus has already altered our way of life and caused a new economic recession. And its geopolitical consequences? Will it create a new global order?
While we jump the pit
Despite the magnitude of the drama, there are always lessons to be learned and lessons to be learned from what happened. Margaret Attwood, author of 'The Tale of the Maid' offers in this text some clues to do so. And to reunite with life
Where is the office?
Aseptic and distant offices. Compressed schedules and 'apps' tracking infections. Back to work: we visited the headquarters of various companies, from a multinational company housed in a skyscraper to animation studios
Dress the day after
Proposals to maintain social distance and that the transition from tracksuit to suit is not traumatic
The tribe revives with the pandemic
The health crisis has awakened solidarity and the collective spirit of society. Volunteers from all over Spain are mobilizing so that no one is left behind. Six stories about how this crisis has brought us together
New normality; same family
Confinement has forced us to discover coexistence. How has the experience been for the varied and diverse modality of Spanish families?
Disrupted education
We enter the classrooms of the future with the OECD director of education. Helping students to think for themselves and understand the limits of individual and collective action will be some keys
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