I wonder if my grandmother has ever had a facial cleansing. And yet, she has perfect skin in her nineties. I never saw her worried about exercising, supplementing with magnesium or collagen, or turning any downtime into productivity by listening to an audiobook about atomic habits or financial success. She also didn’t need to count her steps, monitor her sleep hours, or constantly optimize herself as if life were a failing business. On the contrary, I see her relatively happy, within the limitations of her age. Serene, even. Quite satisfied with the life she has had, despite having lived through a war, a post-war period, and an existence infinitely more austere than ours. Without so many stimuli. Without so much exposure. Without constantly externalizing her mood, beyond chatting with a neighbor when they happened to meet on the street. She never needed to photograph a meal to enjoy it, never went to the gym to look healthy, and much less thought that being bored was an urgent problem to solve. And yet, or perhaps precisely because of that, she seems to be much more at peace than many of us.
Elia Vázquez Yáñez. Salamanca
Coherence
If the political situation is so bad, Feijóo should present a motion of no confidence in which he explains why he has always opposed what could benefit the middle and lower classes — wages, pensions, etc. — and present the PP’s program for the next four years, alone or united with Vox.
Juan Antonio Fernández Arévalo. Cartagena
The right to care
The aging population urgently requires strengthening the public care system. Although the dependency law has been in force for almost 20 years, thousands of people still endure long waits for assessments, insufficient services, high copayments with great inequalities between communities. In addition, much of the burden continues to fall on families, especially women. It is necessary to increase public funding, reduce bureaucratic procedures, enhance home help and professional services. Improve the working conditions of those who work in the sector: wages, stability, and training. Investing in care is not an unproductive expense: it is essential justice.
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Fernando Serrano Echeverria. Éibar (Guipúzcoa)
Apathy
May is coming to an end and the Collserola mountain range remains closed. It is striking, especially considering that the conseller Ordeig stated in December that the swine plague outbreak was under control. Apparently, it was neither under control nor were they able to prevent it from spreading from Bellaterra to Collserola, a natural park that has been subjected to eradication efforts of a native species for half a year. The physical and mental health of the millions of citizens living around the mountain range seems not to matter to the Govern. Likewise, it is very frustrating to witness the umpteenth display of apathy that our society is showing, having barely managed to gather 4,000 signatures in favor of reopening the natural park.
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Alberto Prieto Martín. Barcelona
