Second corona wave in Spain: "I can't believe we haven't learned anything"

Icon: enlarge

Nurse Cristóbal

Photo: Susana Giron / DER SPIEGEL

Rhut Cristóbal knows what it feels like to be overwhelmed by a pandemic.

She has seen it before, six months ago, in March, in her health center in Vallecas, a working-class district in the south of Madrid.

Suddenly the patients came with sweat on their foreheads.

You were short of breath.

While she was still in the waiting room, the oxygen content of her blood dropped.

During this time, Madrid's administration stored the dead in ice rinks and set up field hospitals.

Cristóbal worked to the point of exhaustion.

The nurse, a small, wiry woman with an energetic look, 38 years old, saw people die, tried to calm relatives, and raced in the car on house calls.

Often she was late.

Only after weeks of hard lockdown did the drama end.

Now the pandemic is catching up with Spain again.

On a Monday in September, Rhut Cristóbal rushes down the hall of the health center.

The heads of the waiting patients turn to her left and right on the benches.

Outside the queue reaches around the corner.

The rush is almost as great as in March.

Three quarters of the tests in the health center are positive.

A panting man with beads of sweat on his forehead drags himself into the waiting room.

Cristóbal says: "The second wave is here."

Read more with Spiegel Plus

More perspectives, more understanding.

Your advantages with SPIEGEL +

• Icon: Check

  DER SPIEGEL as a magazine

  as an app, e-paper and on the e-reader

• Icon: Check

  All articles on SPIEGEL.de

  Exclusive texts for SPIEGEL + readers

• Icon: Check

  Try one month for free

  Cancel anytime online

  A price

  only € 19.99 per month

One month for € 0.00

Try now for 0.00 € Buy nowArrow to the right

Already have a digital subscription? Register here

Restore iTunes subscription

SPIEGEL + is processed via your iTunes account and paid for with a purchase confirmation.

24 hours before it expires, the subscription is automatically renewed for one month at the current price of 19.99 €

You can cancel the subscription at any time in the settings of your iTunes account.

To use SPIEGEL + outside of this app, you must link the subscription to a SPIEGEL ID account immediately after purchase.

With the purchase you accept our general terms and conditions and privacy policy.