Healthcare workers

They are on the frontline in the battle against the coronavirus and the nightly tribute must give them a lift because they are facing a mammoth task which has plenty of dangers. Around 14 per-cent of all infections are among healthcare workers which has been attributed to the limited availability of protective equipment and several early clusters of the virus occurring in hospitals.

Nursing union SATSE called for test kits and for drastic measures to help prop up Madrid's hospitals, which it said were on "the verge of collapse". This just makes the job of healthcare workers even harder; they are battling to save lives and helping the sick with limited re-sources.

I noticed on social media this week that the lack of adequate medical equipment is starting to cause outrage; some even suggested that the 60 million euros which King Juan Carlos allegedly received as a "gift" after securing a lucrative railway contract should be given straight to the health ministry so that it could buy more equipment.

These are hard and desperate times in Spain but medical staff have quite rightly won the hearts and minds of the nation. To misquote Winston Churchill from another time and another crisis but his words are apt for this situation as well: "Never was so much owed by so many to so few." That rather says it all.