Our plans are going to the dogs. We had expected to have the first version of the architect’s plans by now so we could start requesting quotes from local builders. April has begun and we still have nothing.
Impatience is not necessarily a bad thing in itself; on its own it is harmless. The only downside is the time wasted — which, for better or worse, we will not spend being bored. No. This delay is merely the tip of an enormous iceberg that combines the consequences of the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the way both the EU and the Spanish Government are managing all these problems.
With inflation close to reaching double digits, self-employed lorry drivers on strike, fuel prices almost double what they were a year ago, and a brutal rise in electricity costs, we are facing a very different scenario from the one we imagined when we started the house project in Los Oscos.
Even if they affect us only slightly, all these setbacks could mean the definitive suspension of the plan. Meanwhile, the days pass, prices keep rising, precariousness becomes part of daily life, and problems we thought had been solved by the welfare state begin to reappear.
To make matters worse, working conditions are deteriorating, incomes don’t stretch far enough… and the hope of reaching a goal as consolation for so many problems is starting to blur. The truth is we don’t even know when we will return to Asturias. In the worst moments, when adversity puts you on guard, the usual consolation is to think of a medium-term future in which most problems will be resolved.
Unfortunately, every new day brings new problems, new questions, new challenges. The difficulties pile up and threaten our morale. I waited four days before writing this post because it is not the first time I have drowned in a glass of water, and optimism usually returns after a good night’s sleep. I am now almost afraid to turn on the radio, because what yesterday seemed grey today turns black, and tomorrow will not be any better.
My only consolation is that we are not the only ones going through this, nor are we the worst off. I want to believe that this society will not stand idly by and will do something to get out of the hole we are being pushed into. And if it doesn’t, architects, builders, bricklayers and computer programmers will still have to make a living somehow. Housing remains a need that will have to be met sooner or later.
Perhaps this delay is merely the prologue to a much longer standstill. And in the meantime, the ruined house continues to crumble slowly, with nothing we can do to stop it.