Medic unions say Spain ignored doctors' warnings
When Spain's first case of coronavirus was recorded at the end of January - in the Canary Islands - Madrid said there was little cause for concern.
In the space of just over two months, it’s a very different picture, and medical unions are now saying their doctors' warnings were ignored at the national level.
Now they're playing catch-up with deadly results.
The disease has killed more people in Spain than China, where it originated, and has just reached its 100,000th documented infection.
Josep Maria Puig is a doctor at a Barcelona hospital:
(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DOCTOR AT BARCELONA'S HOSPITAL DEL MAR, JOSEP MARIA PUIG, SAYING:
"In this moment of the crisis, we realize how much crucial time we wasted at the beginning of this crisis. We had the example of China which probably seemed too far away for us at the time but it was actually a very close example of a society that has a lot of similarities with our society. An example which could have given us enough time to equip ourselves and to start the fight against coronavirus under good conditions."
Like other hard-hit countries with equipment shortages, Spanish doctors are starting to use improvised protective gear -- like plastic bags and raincoats.
Medical unions have filed lawsuits in at least 10 of Spain's 17 regions, demanding authorities to provide equipment within 24 hours in line with health and safety law.
One in Catalonia was rejected, however, the court did say authorities should provide PPE as soon as it arrives.
Maria de la Cuadra is a nurse in La Paz:
(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) NURSE AT LA PAZ HOSPITAL, MARIA DE LA CUADRA, SAYING:
"I got infected because of the lack of protective measures as we don't have enough resources. There are less and less suitable protective masks. Surgical gowns are getting worse, shorter and have poorer quality and we aren't even getting them, they are not arriving. As there are so many sick among health personnel we are less and less and there are more and more patients."
It seems Spain is not alone when it comes to EU countries not seeing warning signs.
Internal and public documents seen by Reuters show barely a month before Europe started to scramble for masks, ventilators and test kits.
Governments were telling Brussels their healthcare systems were ready and there was no need to order more medical supplies.
With one European Commission official even saying that it had “Things under control.”
In fact, Europe is now anything but under control, and has since become the epicentre of the virus.
