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Spain’s Toxic Politics, Health Woes Have Got Merkel Worried

Resurgence has exposed fractures in systems of government
German officials view situation in Spain with growing concern

Pedestrians wearing protective masks walk through Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, Oct. 2. — Pedestrians wearing protective masks walk through Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, Oct. 2.
Photographer: Paul Hanna/Bloomberg

By

Laura Millan Lombrana,

Jeannette Neumann, and

Alberto Nardelli

October 4, 2020, 6:00 AM UTCUpdated onOctober 4, 2020, 11:10 AM UTC

Spain is paying a hefty price for its broken political system and is rapidly becoming the euro’s problem child.

It used to be Italy that was seen as the bigger risk. But now officials in Germany, the region’s economic motor and the one paying the most money toward the European Union’s Covid-19 recovery fund, are worried by just how badly Spain is coping with the pandemic.