The government has been aware for a year of the lethal consequences of a pandemic on tourism and the economy in Spain

The current Spanish government was already aware in the spring of 2019 that the closure of air traffic due to the spread of a pandemic was a lethal blow to tourism and the Spanish economy.

This is clear from the analysis of the National Aerospace Security Strategy approved on the morning of 12 April 2019 at the Moncloa Palace by the National Security Council at a meeting chaired by the current Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez.

The aforementioned Aerospace Security Strategy is a document "agreed upon with the Autonomous Communities and sectoral experts in each of the areas", as are the Civil Protection and Cybersecurity Strategies, which were approved at the same meeting of the National Security Council, the last session held during the 12th legislature.
 

In his capacity as National Security Secretary and Director of the Presidency's Cabinet, Iván Redondo was the person in charge of outlining the National Aerospace Security Strategy to the ministers and senior authorities who form part of the aforementioned Council, the body that assists the President of the Government in his responsibility of directing the National Security policy.

Under the chairmanship of the head of the Government, the National Security Council directs and coordinates crisis management activities under the terms of the National Security Act, which has not been invoked or activated to date to deal with the COVID-19 coronavirus infection, despite the widespread intervention of the Armed Forces.
 

Considered by Moncloa as "one of the most innovative in the world", the first of the four chapters of the Aerospace Security Strategy values that tourism is "the leading national industry", contributes "15% of the Gross Domestic Product" and provides jobs to "almost 3 million people". 

With regard to the aeronautical sector - air transport, airports, air navigation and the aeronautical industry - he states that it is closely related to "80% of the tourists who travel to Spain", its direct contribution to the national GDP is 2.5% and it generates more than 100,000 direct jobs with high added value due to its "stability, quality and high qualifications".

In its section dedicated to epidemics and pandemics, the document warns that air transport facilitates and multiplies interaction between societies, "a facility that poses a risk for its propagation, whether by chance or by premeditation". The document attributes this to the fact that "in many cases, it is not possible to detect their carriers before or during a flight". Ebola and Zika are cited as examples, viruses that "could potentially spread by air transport if appropriate prevention mechanisms are not established".
 

The Strategy contemplates that pandemics and epidemics, as they have the capacity to cross borders with impunity, represent a "challenge" for Spain, since for the most part they are "unintentional" phenomena to which the aeronautical sector can help spread "to humans, animals and plants". But he does not qualify the pandemics as "threats", because he understands that they are not caused by a deliberate harmful act of a criminal or illicit nature that compromises National Security. 

What he does point out in the Aerospace Security Strategy approved 12 months ago by Moncloa is that pandemics can cause situations "of instability or lead to the emergence of threats, aggravate them or accelerate their occurrence," and he refers to the National Security Strategy, which was approved by the National Security Council in December 2017 during President Mariano Rajoy's term in office. The latter includes epidemics and pandemics as "factors with a potential impact on aerospace security", as well as emergencies, disasters and the effects of climate change.

Both the National Security Strategy and the Aerospace Strategy identify which are the main national interests that must be protected in the face of challenges and threats. First of all, "the lives of the Spanish people, their security, well-being and privacy" are highlighted, but also "the health of society in the face of the intentional or unintentional spread of pathogenic agents or toxic substances by aerospace means".

The specific security measures included in the National Security Strategy consist of adopting "preparedness and response plans for health risks, both generic and specific" under the coordination of the General State Administration, the Autonomous Community Administrations and international organisations such as the WHO or the European Union.
 

Along the same lines, it seeks to ensure an "adequate operational response capacity" and to "update existing preparedness and response plans for specific risks". The importance of "promoting the development of a generic national plan for preparedness and response to biological risks" with a multi-sectoral approach is also noted. 

With regard to improving capacities and operational procedures, the Strategy expresses the need for the ministerial departments involved to "develop and improve protocols to (...) ensure appropriate care for people entering the country with high-risk infectious diseases". It also cites the expansion of the so-called "Spanish Technical Teams for Emergency Assistance and Response" or START, level 2 medical emergency teams that can set up a field hospital for hospitalisations and surgical procedures for a total of 20 patients.

If we take into account that among the National Security Council's responsibilities are those of supervising and coordinating the National Security System and verifying the degree of compliance with the National Security and Aerospace Strategy, all of the above seems reasonable to be verified.
 

Since both Strategies were given the green light, have the measures described above been activated? Were instructions given to carry them out and were they activated after the WHO issued the first warnings against COVID-19 in December 2019? It is said that "paper can bear everything", but these and many other questions will have to be analysed and debated in Congress once the current state of alert is over.

To realize the importance of the aeronautical sector on tourism and the national economy, the Aerospace Strategy highlights that in 2018, a total of 36 Spanish companies carried out 2.3 million operations and moved 88 million passengers and 1.1 million tons of cargo. Air transport represents 266 million passengers for the national economy, flying with 690 airlines operating in the country, linking 48 airports with 350 different destinations in more than 140 countries. But that is the past.
 

The deadly impact of the pandemic on a tourist destination like Spain is already a reality. Fortunately, the Spanish Aerospace Strategy considers civil aviation to be of great importance to Spain and a "backbone of the State". It understands that the geographical location of our country between the European and African continents and its location in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean have made it a "true hub of intercontinental air transport" between Europe, Africa and America and that it is therefore "one of the strategic sectors of the national economy". 

However, the recovery of the international clientele from a situation practically at the lowest limit of air traffic, hotel occupancy and provision of catering services in tourist areas is going to require a lot of time, effort and investment. But humanity has emerged from worse times.