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The defiant attitude of denying the pandemic has caught on in confined settings, fueled by conspiracy theories and sustained by mistrust in governments and by questioning science. The scale and power that this denialism has acquired in large countries such as the United States and Brazil, whose own presidents have questioned the masks, have defended therapies not endorsed by the medical community and have aligned themselves with those who ignore the pandemic, is no stranger to their growth. And, beyond demanding a greater didactic effort and the explanation of policies with a scientific basis, nothing can be done against the beliefs of each one, which goes without saying that they are free, and even less against the freedom of manifestation and expression, enshrined in the Constitution and worthy of defense in all cases and causes. But this position does not extend to what concerns the safety and health of citizens.
The protesters who gathered in Madrid on Sunday to protest against the widespread use of masks and the Sánchez government's measures against the “false pandemic” have every right to do so. What they are not entitled to is to put the health of others at risk by not respecting safety distances and not using masks. The influential people who promote this trend have a special responsibility, oblivious to the seriousness of a disease that has already claimed hundreds of thousands of deaths around the world (more than 46,000 in Spain, according to a count in this newspaper based on data from scientific institutions and registries) and that keeps all countries in suspense waiting for some of the vaccines in progress to begin massively immunizing the population. The need to respect the rules does not respond to the interests of one party or another, it does not depend on the color of the Executive; it is pressing because many lives are at stake.
The Government Delegation in Madrid cannot but allow the mobilization, but it should have done more to force compliance with these security measures and will do well to analyze the failures and prevent new risky situations with which this pandemic is challenging us. The protection of health is not a whim or a matter of faith, but a right contained in article 43 of the Constitution that is the responsibility of the public powers to organize and protect and which implies rights and duties for all. Nobody forces you to think differently. But we are obliged, also the deniers, not to do harm.
