Catalan president praises Germany’s decentralized model in dealing with Covid-19

Catalan president Quim Torra has lamented that with the state of alarm being declared on March 14 in Spain, Catalonia “lost its autonomy in health care in these most delicate times.” In a press conference with international media on Thursday, the Catalan president contrasted the handling of the pandemic by the Spanish government with Germany, who have not centralized the health services.

“Can you imagine Germany suspended the authority of the länder [federated states] in matters of health in the middle of the coronavirus crisis?”, he asked.

“Germany has the lowest death ratio among the largest European states, he added. “Such a measure of centralizing rocks the constitution.” According to him, large states who have not centralized services and small states such as the Czech Republic, Denmark and Austria are coping better and more efficiently  with the crisis.