Today I want to talk about a news story that personally breaks my heart—a story that came out yesterday and, naturally, has two sides. On one hand, I don't entirely object to this ban in certain situations; on the other, I criticize this government's zeal for banning things—they want to meddle in everything and ban everything.
I am referring to the news currently making headlines—as shown in the *Mundo Deportivo* newspaper—which explains: "It has now come into effect: Spain is changing the rules and will henceforth require bar terraces to close if it is very hot outside." Of course, there is much more to this than meets the eye. For one thing, it stems from an agreement between workers and employers: "Unions and employers have agreed to modify the national labor agreement for the hospitality sector to adapt the labor framework to new climate-related risks."
This opens up a topic worthy of analysis. While it is true that most establishments have air conditioning these days—and for someone constantly moving between indoors and outdoors, the risk of catching a cold is quite high because the AC is often blasted at full power—it is also true that the sun beats down hard. Yet, honestly, when you look at historical data, it isn't beating down any harder than it was 20 years ago. The sensation of heat we experience—which truly feels more intense than in the past—doesn't actually correspond to a significant rise in temperatures, as the temperature trends have remained quite stable.
Well, it is partly because we have adapted—and very quickly—to living in low temperatures, even in summer, due to air conditioning. So many people live in cities, and those air conditioning units vent hot air out onto the street; you might have a street where—I don't know—twenty-five or thirty machines are constantly spewing hot air. Then there is the obvious effect of traffic—there is more traffic, no one can deny that—and the asphalt, which is also a heat source. But I remember the month of July during the Tour de France; it was incredibly hot there in France—though perhaps no worse than what we have now.
Regarding these recent heatwaves—and this is by no means the first heatwave ever—the issue is that climate change has turned into a sort of religion; if you raise your voice or criticize it, you’re basically branded a villain or something of the sort. And honestly, all one often asks for is an analysis of the causes—to see if it is actually happening or not. And if it is, what is causing it? Because we often overlook phenomena like variations in the Earth's axial tilt—which has shifted—or events raising temperatures in certain parts of the planet, such as the increased number of volcanoes and earthquakes, El Niño, and so on. There is a whole range of circumstances involved, so it seems a bit excessive to me that we Europeans have to foot the bill for everything.
I mean, the attitude here seems to be that if you don't close the terrace, you're destroying the planet—well, I’m not buying that, I’m just not. At the same time, I do acknowledge that workers might be struggling—some are having a really rough time—and, of course, it makes you wonder: this sort of thing happened in the past, too. When a tourist-heavy country passes a law forcing you to close your terrace in the summer... surely there could be intermediate measures? Like the standard practice where they put things on a tray for you—if it’s too hot, you just take the tray outside. I don't know, try something like that before jumping straight to a ban.
They ban things so easily; it gives me the impression that they project their own behavior onto everyone else—assuming everyone is just like them. They keep banning things because *they* are the ones breaking the rules. It’s just too much; there comes a point where you really feel overwhelmed and exasperated.
But believe me, I don't think constantly banning everything is a good option. It’s a trend—a very, very fascist drift, honestly, very fascist. And this government has such a knack for banning things that it leaves you absolutely dumbfounded.
Let me know what you think in the comments. Let's see if we can get a bit more clarity on this.
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