The pandemic has made clear how important are elderly people in our society. Not just their knowledge and experience are what counts, but also their courage and mindfulness have been a reference for us. In countries like Spain old people participate in social life, independent from the pandemic. In Madrid, they go to the theatre and restaurants, many times hand in hand with their couple.
It makes you feel good about becoming old to see how we cared in this crisis for our parents, grandparents as well as aunts and uncles. When the pandemic started it looked like we were killing the elderly leaving them alone in their homes and residences. But we turned around the story immediately, because their is no such plan to kill older people as some conspiracy theories want to make us believe. However, to care properly for elderly Europe needs 1,264,576 new residential spots to cover dependence, which will increase with the all the time growing life expectancy. It is good news because it is generating over 632,000 new jobs.