The church bells in the northern Spanish village of Luarca rang continuously during the Spanish flu. Little José saw funerals passing by every day when he looked out the window. Of the 2,000 inhabitants, 500 died from the virus, which would go down in history as the worst pandemic of the 20th century. Estimates of the number of deaths range from 20 to even 100 million victims.
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José also got the flu. “I was very sick and I still don’t understand that I am still there,” he told Spanish newspaper El Mundo. “When I woke up, I could barely walk. I had to crawl on my hands and knees.” While struggling with a giant fever, a doctor prescribed medicines from cooked eucalyptus and seaweed. He was lucky and survived.
Shackled at home
In the years that followed, he was a truck driver, bricklayer, taxi driver and even a bullfighter. He married and had four children, six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Four months ago, he celebrated his 105th birthday with his entire family. Now he is confined to his house and, because of the coronavirus, no longer wants family members to stop by.
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Spain is one of the hardest hit countries in Europe by the corona virus. With over 33,000 infections and more than 2,000 deaths. The country has been flattened to prevent further spread.
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José is very old, almost deaf and has difficulty walking. “But he understands very well what’s going on with the coronavirus now,” says his daughter, who lives with him and takes care of him. “Listen to the authorities,” he repeats over and over.
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Nothing wrong
Fighting the disease in Spain was a disaster during the Spanish flu. Eight million people were infected and 300,000 died. Colleges and universities closed, but cinemas, arenas, theaters, and churches kept their doors open as if nothing was wrong.
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This new pandemic with images of full hospitals and deserted streets reminds José of that nasty period more than a hundred years ago. “He’s afraid the same will happen,” said his daughter. But also tries to reassure. “We are living in a different time now.”
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Spanish flu
The Spanish Flu was a worldwide epidemic in 1918-1919. The flu is estimated to have claimed between 20 and 100 million lives. The type of virus that caused the flu was H1N1.
The flu started with a high fever, cough, muscle aches and sore throat, followed by extreme tiredness and fainting. After a few days, many people died of the disease.
Despite the name, the origin of the flu was not in Spain but probably in the United States. Spanish newspapers were the first to report on the virus.
In the Netherlands, the pandemic claimed an estimated 30,000 lives.
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