Madrid, Spain - April 7, 2020: A medical team from the emergency medical unit of Madrid (SUMMA) dressed in their PPE, attends to a patient suspected of having Covid in his home. On March 14, when there were around 6000 cases and 200 deaths in Spain, the Spanish government declared a state of alarm throughout the country in order to stop the health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of mid-May, Spain was the fifth country in terms of confirmed cases (232,037 positive), behind the United States, Russia, Brazil and the United Kingdom, and also the fifth country in terms of number of deaths, behind the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy and France. It is estimated that the pandemic has caused more than 70,000 deaths in Spain, of which more than 50,000 have been confirmed by PCR test. The vast majority of the dead were people over 65 years of age. According to a seroprevalence study, 5% of the Spanish population had been infected by the virus up to June.
Madrid, Spain - March 27, 2020: General image of the interior of pavilion 5 of the IFEMA field hospital for covid patients. In view of the pressure on medical centers in the Community of Madrid, the regional government sought to relieve the pressure on hospitalization by installing a field hospital to treat patients from Covid 19 in one of the largest empty spaces in the capital of Spain. In 48 hours, the IFEMA Fairgrounds in Madrid became the largest temporary field hospital for Covid in Spain.
Madrid, Spain - March 27, 2020: A nurse waits her turn to dress in her safety suit (EPI) before entering the dirty area of Pavilion 5 of Ifema's field hospital for COVID patients.Given the situation of pressure on medical centers in the Community of Madrid, the regional government sought to decongest hospitalizations by installing a field hospital to treat Covid 19 patients in one of the largest empty compounds in the capital of Spain. In 48 hours, the IFEMA Fair in Madrid became the largest temporary field hospital for Covid in Spain. It is estimated that the pandemic has caused more than 70,000 deaths in Spain, of which more than 50,000 have been confirmed by PCR tests. According to a seroprevalence study, 5% of the Spanish population had been infected by the virus up to June.
Madrid, Spain - April 9, 2020: A team from the emergency medical unit of Madrid (SUMMA) performs a transfer of a patient of Covid 19 between UCIS. On March 14th, when there were around 6000 cases and 200 deaths in Spain, the Spanish government declared a state of alarm throughout the country in order to stop the health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of mid-May, Spain was the fifth country in terms of confirmed cases (232,037 positive), behind the United States, Russia, Brazil and the United Kingdom, and also the fifth country in terms of number of deaths, behind the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy and France. It is estimated that the pandemic has caused more than 70,000 deaths in Spain, of which more than 50,000 have been confirmed by PCR test. The vast majority of the dead were people over 65 years of age. According to a seroprevalence study, 5% of the Spanish population had been infected by the virus up to June.
Madrid,Spain December 21, 2020: Dr. Ines Lipperheide and the nurse Gema Martin try to convince a COVID patient in the ICU of Puerta de Hierro hospital to keep fighting for her life. They have little hope that they can save her life. The threat of a third wave of the pandemic as Christmas approaches and the emergence of the new strain of Covid 19 virus in the UK is keeping the medical community on edge. It is estimated that the pandemic has caused more than 70,000 deaths in Spain, of which more than 50,000 have been confirmed by PCR test. According to a seroprevalence study, 5% of the Spanish population had been infected by the virus up to June.
Madrid, Spain - March 2020: A nursing assistant disinfects all the personal protective equipment used by doctors and nurses working in the dirty area of pavilion 5 of the IFEMA field hospital.
Faced with the pressure of care in the medical centers of the Community of Madrid, the regional government sought to decongest hospitalizations by setting up a field hospital to treat Covid 19 patients in one of the largest vacant areas of the Spanish capital. In 48 hours, the IFEMA exhibition center in Madrid became the largest temporary field hospital for Covid in Spain.
Ciudad Real, Spain - April 16, 2020: A team of workers from a mortuary in Ciudad Real moves the body of a victim of covid 19. It is estimated that the pandemic has caused more than 70,000 deaths in Spain, of which more than 50,000 have been confirmed by PCR test. The vast majority of the dead were people over 65 years of age. According to a seroprevalence study, 5% of the Spanish population had been infected by the virus up to June.
Valencia, Spain - February 2021: A worker of a mortuary company in Valencia moves a deceased Covid 19 patient from the morgue of a hospital in Valencia to the mortuary of his company. The Valencian Community is one of the epicenters of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Spain.
January was the worst month of the pandemic in terms of Covid 19 infections and, together with February, accumulated record numbers of deaths with a cumulative excess mortality of 18% according to the Daily Mortality Monitoring System (MoMo), prepared by the Carlos III Health Institute.
Ciudad Real, Spain - April 16, 2020: A team of operators from a mortuary in Ciudad Real introduce the body of a victim of covid 19 to be cremated. The collapse of the funeral services in the Community of Madrid, epicenter of the Covid 19 pandemic in Spain, forced the authorities to transfer thousands of dead people to other communities in Spain to be cremated. by the government. It is estimated that the pandemic has caused more than 70,000 deaths in Spain, of which more than 50,000 have been confirmed by PCR testing. The vast majority of the dead were people over 65 years of age. According to a seroprevalence study 5% of the Spanish population had been infected by the virus up to June.
Valencia, Spain - February 2021: The coffins that will be used by funeral services and mortuaries in Spain during the next three days of the pandemic are waiting on the production line at the factory of the Unicoffin-Arcae Group, one of the leading coffin manufacturers in Spain. All these coffins were photographed on February 5 and by February 9 had been cremated or buried. January was the worst month of the pandemic in terms of Covid 19 infections and, together with February, has already accumulated record numbers of deaths, with a cumulative excess mortality of 18% according to the Daily Mortality Monitoring System (MoMo), prepared by the Carlos III Health Institute.
Ciudad Real, Spain - April 14, 2020: A family attends the burial of their family victim of covid 19 in a cemetery in the province of Ciudad Real. The strict security measures decreed by the government of Spain to prevent the spread of the virus prevent the families from saying goodbye to their loved ones as they would like. Only three family members per deceased can be present at the funeral. It is estimated that the pandemic has caused more than 70,000 deaths in Spain, of which more than 50,000 have been confirmed by PCR tests. According to a seroprevalence study, 5% of the Spanish population had been infected by the virus up to June.
Bilbao, Vizcaya - 29 May 2020: The sacristan of the basilica of Begoña disinfects the church of Covid 19 after the celebration of the Holy Mass. The diocese of Bilbao took all the possible measures of security in front of the Covid 19 to face the new normality to which the Virus forces us.
On March 14, when there were around 6000 cases and 200 deaths in Spain, the Spanish government declared a state of alarm throughout the country in order to stop the health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of mid-May, Spain was the fifth country in terms of confirmed cases (232,037 positive), behind the United States, Russia, Brazil and the United Kingdom, and also the fifth country in terms of number of deaths, behind the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy and France. It is estimated that the pandemic has caused more than 70,000 deaths in Spain, of which more than 50,000 have been confirmed by PCR test. The vast majority of the dead were people over 65 years of age. According to a seroprevalence study, 5% of the Spanish population had been infected by the virus up to June.
Madrid, Spain - May 3, 2020: Lucia plays with her grandfather Antonio separated by a sale for fear of contagion from Covid 19.
On March 14, when there were around 6000 cases and 200 deaths in Spain, the Spanish government declared a state of alarm throughout the country in order to stop the health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of mid-May, Spain was the fifth country in terms of confirmed cases (232,037 positive), behind the United States, Russia, Brazil and the United Kingdom, and also the fifth country in terms of number of deaths, behind the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy and France. It is estimated that the pandemic has caused more than 70,000 deaths in Spain, of which more than 50,000 have been confirmed by PCR test. The vast majority of the dead were people over 65 years of age. According to a seroprevalence study, 5% of the Spanish population had been infected by the virus up to June.
Madrid, Spain 25July 2020: A group of citizens visit the Prado Museum after its reopening. With the arrival of the new normality, the Prado Museum established strict security measures so that citizens could revisit the works of the museum with the maximum possible security against the Covid 19 virus.
Madrid, Spain - July 25, 2020: A live concert of Operación Triunfo at the Wizink center of Madrid. The Wizink center of Madrid opened its doors with all possible security measures in front of the Covid 19 betting on the recovery of a space for culture and music.
Patin, Galicia - 15 August 2020: A group of elite surfers take their temperature before entering the sea to compete in the Pantín Classic professional surfing championship in Galicia.
This year, the Pantín Classic professional surfing championship, which is part of the international surfing circuit, was held after the state of emergency decreed by the Spanish government due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Although the State of Alarm was no longer active, the virus continued to be a very real threat to the athletes competing in the event, organizers and the public. Therefore, the organization took all possible security measures to make the championship a safe environment for Covid- 19.
It is estimated that the pandemic has caused more than 70,000 deaths in Spain, of which more than 50,000 have been confirmed by PCR test. The vast majority of the dead were people over 65 years of age. According to a seroprevalence study, 5% of the Spanish population had been infected by the virus up to June.
Cangas del Narcea, Asturias - 1 June 2020: Father Juan Jose Blanco protects himself with a mask while imparting the sacrament of confession.
On March 14, when there were around 6000 cases and 200 deaths in Spain, the Spanish government declared a state of alarm throughout the country in order to stop the health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of mid-May, Spain was the fifth country in terms of confirmed cases (232,037 positive), behind the United States, Russia, Brazil and the United Kingdom, and also the fifth country in terms of number of deaths, behind the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy and France. It is estimated that the pandemic has caused more than 70,000 deaths in Spain, of which more than 50,000 have been confirmed by PCR test. The vast majority of the dead were people over 65 years of age. According to a seroprevalence study, 5% of the Spanish population had been infected by the virus up to June.
Madrid, Spain May 22, 2020: Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivers a message to the nation during the first state of alarm that Spain experienced as a result of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the two states of alarm that Spain has experienced since the beginning of the pandemic, freedom of the press and direct access to our leaders during press conferences has been limited under the protection of health security and the limitations imposed by the COVID-19.
This photograph represents the access via zoom style platforms that the press had during the first months of the pandemic to ask questions to our politicians, always previously filtered by their press and cabinet directors.
All political parties in Spain have taken advantage of this circumstance to avoid the control exercised over them by the press in any democracy. The work of journalists and the media in Spain during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic has been subjected to a strict control of covert censorship and blackout under the protection of health security measures and the state of alarm.
Barcelona, Spain February 14, 2021: Members of a polling station get ready to start counting the votes of their polling station during the autonomous elections in Catalonia.
The elections were held under tight security measures because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Because of the virus, voter participation in these elections set an all-time record low of just 54% of the population.
Bilbao , Spain - June 2020: A father and his son collect humanitarian food aid from the parish of the Lord's Passion in the Deusto neighborhood of Bilbao.
Spain is one of the most economically affected countries in the world due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs and businesses and are surviving thanks to the help of NGOs and the Church. In any city in Spain, daily queues of people in search of food have become normal. The hunger queues, as they are called in Spain, are the most visible face of the economic consequences of the crisis left behind by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The world first heard about the Covid 19 virus on January 19, 2020. The announcement by the Chinese authorities went unnoticed by the vast majority of the world’s population. It was a mysterious SARS-like virus among humans that had appeared in a Chinese city called Wuham. No one that day imagined that this announcement would change the world as we knew it.
The Covid 19 pandemic leaves us with a present that has marked the future history of mankind. The virus robbed us of our most sacred freedom; our way of living and feeling our own identity, and in turn, reminded us that human beings are not immortal as a species, nor are their civilizations eternal.
Covid 19 is the greatest threat to mankind since the First World War. The whole of humanity is a victim of the pandemic and no country has been able to avoid its devastating health, socioeconomic and social impact. Spain is one of the countries in the world that has been most affected by the pandemic, with more than three million people infected, with an official death toll of 72,258 and an unofficial death toll of more than 100,000 according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and, as the International Monetary Fund points out, Spain is the world’s hardest hit economy as a result of the pandemic.
The virus makes no difference for ideological, faith, sex, economic or social reasons. It attacks everyone equally. That is why, since the beginning of the pandemic, my obsession has been to photograph the tragedy from a plural perspective, leaving aside any ideological or political interpretation, and thus help build a plural memory of what happened for civil society as a whole.
“A tale of an expired immortality” documents the titanic struggle of Spanish society to survive Covid 19. It intends to immortalize the unwavering commitment of the health sector as a whole and its auxiliary services in their fight against the virus in the main centers of the pandemic. A battle that began in March 2020 and continues to this day. During all this time we have witnessed three waves of the pandemic, the symbol that represented the IFEMA hospital, the commitment to exhaustion of doctors, nurses and health technicians in their struggle to save lives, the mourning of a civil society broken by the pain of the loss of their loved ones without even the opportunity for a last goodbye, in short, how this virus changed our way of life as we knew it,
These photographs are intended as a tribute to the memory of what we have lived, of events that cannot be forgotten and much less their story kidnapped. The memory of the pandemic in Spain is and will continue to be a scene of tension within society and between society and institutions. When society seeks to show only a part of what happened and become a hegemonic narrative, it becomes close to totalitarianism. But when it is recognized in its diversity, memory is the best tool to consolidate a democracy and build a stable future for a country.
