The letter corresponding to our performance and the events of 2019 seemed to belong to an exceptional, unrepeatable period, in which all evil had been unleashed, making it necessary to take unanimous measures of unique scope.
Today, in the short space of a year, the events of 2020 made the previous year seem like a walk in the park in comparison. At this rate, the typical will become the atypical, as if looping the loop or walking the tightrope without a balancing pole were a normal occurrence. It is possible that many of the problems we face are commonplace throughout the entire universe, but some of them, so typically ours, confirm, as someone once said, that Spain is a perpetually insecure rough draft.
It would suffice to confirm the exceptional nature of 2020 recalling that 162 of its 365 days were spent in a state of alarm, when the initial judicial order stated it would be for a period of two weeks. The successive extensions from 14 March to 21 June validated this long period, which the public, with some exceptions, respected and even, as the reasons for its implementation persist in part, finally led to a certain degree of helplessness.
But Spanish society, and Spaniards, to put it bluntly, are strong and the consequences of this pandemic, which was first detected in La Gomera on 31 January, meant that a series of unforeseen health, social and economic measures had to be taken and endured.
The reduction and cancellation of economic activity wreaked havoc. Countless companies and self-employed workers lost their livelihoods and their ability to contribute to the strength of the Spanish economy. The consequent rise in unemployment and the 11% fall in GDP reflect the immenseness of the crisis, alleviated by the furlough scheme, the increase in the minimum wage and the introduction on 29 May of the minimum income. Long-standing and more recent private institutions, many of them of a religious nature, were and continue to be decisive for the survival of so many people, many of whom are living in a state of shameful poverty.
But this situation cannot be permanent.
The fragility of our economy is a consequence of its composition. The disdain for industry and technology, underfunded research, the phobia of any enterprising initiative which is hindered at every step, especially on a local level, or the indifference to the emigration of so many who could contribute, even in the medium or long term, must force us to change our nation's whole way of being, and not just the economy. Glasses are still being raised because 160,000 jobs were created in June 2021, of which only 5% were in industry.
Applying a certain chronology of the year 2020, a few events should be highlighted:
On 7 January, Mr Pedro Sánchez was invested as President of the Spanish Government: 167 votes in favour: Socialist Party (PSOE), Together We Can, (Unidas Podemos), National Basque Party, (PNV), More Country (Más País), Committed (Compromís), Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG), New Canaries (Nueva Canarias) and Teruel Exists (Teruel Existe), 165 against: People’s Party (PP), Vox, Citizens (Ciudadanos), Together for Catalonia (Junts per Catalunya), CUP, Union of the Nation of Navarra (Unión del Pueblo Navarro), Asturias Forum (Foro Asturias), Canaries Coalition (Coalición Canaria) and Regionalist Party of Cantabria (Partido Regionalista de Cantabria) and 18 abstentions: Republican Left of Catalonia (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya) and EH Bildu.
The composition of the votes in favour, those against, and the nature of the abstentions ought to be the subject of a study of the true composition of Spanish society, which should not be based on mere conjecture. This parliamentary reality makes any State Coalition seem an illusion.
On 3 August, the Royal Household announced that Juan Carlos I was distancing himself from Spain, just as much of what we Spaniards have been able to achieve since 1976 is being rejected or criticised.
On 3 November, Mr Joe Biden became President of the United States of America.
On 24 November, the Council of Ministers approved the vaccination strategy. On the same day, the number of deaths reached a record 537.
On 3 December, the Congress of Deputies passed the general state budget for 2021.
On 8 December, British woman, 90-year-old Margaret Keenan, opened up the road to hope with the first vaccination in Europe.
Interspersed among these events or occurrences could be the postponement and holding of regional elections, votes of no confidence, court rulings, disobedience to them, the consequent appeals, the passing of laws and agreements, and parliamentary debates which, let us hope, are a mere reflection of the differences in our society and do not magnify them.
And forgotten or misinterpreted, inert, the need for a suggestive project of life in common, Ortega dixit, that mobilises the illusion of so many who feel and need the same, without anyone offering it to them.
This brief summary of 2020 would explain a lot.
Insurance companies are a reflection of the ups and downs of our society, especially if those ups and downs regard health and work.
In 2020, the insurance companies’ financial capacity was stretched to the limit, as they were affected by the exceptional costs of the pandemic, the decrease in income due to company closures, the furlough scheme and the exemption from company contributions, staff reductions and the necessary care programme for the self-employed.
The Executive's decision to cover the exceptional costs of temporary unemployment due to COVID and the provisional benefits for the self-employed made it possible to save a situation that was critical at the end of July 2020. But insurance companies, as a whole, cannot be inviable, because they are the best proof that public-private partnerships can more easily solve major needs and problems.
Within the scope of our responsibilities, Mutua Universal has fulfilled its service obligations to member companies and, consequently, to their employees, in the areas of care, prevention and management. Our collaboration with the Social Security, with the help of the Public Health Service, is inherent and not circumstantial. This is how we understand our business, to be at the forefront, providing the necessary resources to combat the pandemic, and also enabling the most affected groups to access the exceptional benefits that the Administration has made available. More than 183,000 applications from self-employed professionals affected by the crisis bear witness to this.
Managing a year with losses is difficult and distressing because, in addition, it is necessary to successfully defend the structure of the Company with management indicators and solvency ratios.
On other fronts, from old legacies, and already this year, Mutua Universal has paid off all of its debt. 2021 is the year of zero debt. But we will talk about that next year.
For all these reasons, I would like to express my utmost appreciation to all the professionals at Mutua Universal for their excellent performance in the most demanding year in living memory. My appreciation for their effort and dedication in such turbulent times. In particular, to the Managing Director, for his breadth of vision. My thanks to those who accompany me on the Board of Directors, on the Control and Monitoring and Special Benefits Committee and on the Audit and Compliance Committee. To the President and Managing Director of AMAT. To the affiliated companies and self-employed workers who place their trust in us and who have suffered so much during this crisis. And, of course, to the Public Administration, with Mr. Borja Suárez, Director General of Social Security Organisation, our closest interlocutor.
Hope and expectation are, or should be, visions and desires for the future.
With the memory of those who have lost their lives in the pandemic and the grateful recognition of all the health professionals who have fought, many of them to the death, to save so many lives.
As I conclude this letter, halfway through 2021, it is again difficult to predict unbridled optimism. But vaccination and the experience of all that we have lived through give us trust in human nature, which is capable of achieving even the near impossible.
We must be called upon to build a fairer, more just society, one that is able to distinguish between what is necessary and what is superfluous. Without arrogance or extreme conservatism. Naturally, like the great events of our own lives.
