Parents in Spain Prepared to Defy Back to School Order

BARCELONA, KOMPAS.com - Spanish parents are ready to defy the country’s back to school orders as coronavirus cases in Spain surge.

Ángela López is no rule-breaker, but the mother of a seven-year-old girl with respiratory problems has found herself among parents ready to challenge Spanish authorities on a blanket order to return to school.

She views the safety measures as ill-funded during a new wave of coronavirus infections in Spain.

The fear of parents in Spain is that sick students could infect relatives who are at a higher risk of contracting the Covid-19 virus.

Read also: Coronavirus Infections or Not, Europe is Going Back to School

Many parents also claim that they have invested in computers and better network connections to prepare for online lessons, even preparing to homeschool their children if necessary.

Many of the defiant parents, including López, are also ready to stand up to the country’s rigid, one-size-fits-all rule of mandatory in-school education, even if that means facing charges for truancy, which in Spain can be punished with three to six months in prison.

Her daughter was born with a condition that makes her prone to suffer episodes of bronchial spasms, which can cause difficulty breathing.

With Covid-19 affecting the respiratory system, López doesn’t want to take any risks.

“We feel helpless and a little offended. It’s like they force us to commit an illegal act because they don’t give us a choice,” said López, who lives in Madrid.

“It’s a matter of statistics," she added. "The more cases there are, the more likely you are to catch it.”

More than half a million people have contracted the virus in Spain and at least 29,500 have died with it, although the official record leaves out many who perished in March and April without being previously tested.

With an average of 229 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the past two weeks, Spain currently has the highest rate of contagion in western Europe.

Read also: Coronavirus Cases in Spain Surpass 400,000 as Virus Transmission Increases

Within the region, it leads what many experts are already calling a second wave of the pandemic, although the Spanish government insists that it now identifies most of the infections because it’s testing more and better.