The most shared content on networks are not always outrageous messages or more or less ingenious insults. Sometimes it’s even nice to get on Twitter. This weekend, the German television channel Deutsche Welle I was tweeting a report in English about the success of the vaccination campaign in Spain. During these days the video has been shared hundreds of times, accompanied by messages such as “Pride of country”, “Things like this make homeland” and “# MarcaEspaña”.
Spain has one the highest vaccination rates in the world without government mandates or incentives.
Here is what’s behind the Spanish success story and what others could learn from it👇 pic.twitter.com/br2wCXESXs
– DW News (@dwnews) October 16, 2021
The Deutsche Welle video compares the percentage of people vaccinated with the full schedule in Spain, 78%, with that of other European countries: Italy, 69%; France, 68%, and Germany, 65%. And he points out some keys to these good figures, achieved despite the slow pace of the first months of the campaign. Above all, confidence in public health, the little space that has been given in the media to conspiracy theories about vaccines and, also and moderating optimism, “the devastating first wave of the pandemic.”
In networks, messages that speak well of Spain from abroad usually work. It seems that if a Spaniard mentions something that we are doing reasonably well, such as vaccination, we don’t quite believe it. He gives us the impression, not always unjustified, that he has some hidden interest or that he actually wants to sell us a motorcycle (or worse, a flag). But if it is said by a foreign medium, it may not convince us at all, but at least we like to hear it.
It does not happen only with issues as crucial as vaccines, but also with others that are not so critical, in other words without diminishing the importance they have. Like the potato omelette. When a journalist from New York Times assures that Ferrán Adriá’s omelette recipe made with potato chips is “a delight”, all are tweets and satisfaction headlines. But if we search for messages about the recipe prior to this article, it is easier to find divided opinions, to put it mildly.
It also happens the other way around: an attack on our Spain is sometimes seen as an affront that must be avenged. There are tweeters who have not yet forgiven British chef Jamie Oliver for cooking a paella with chorizo. And let’s not forget the one that fell to an Italian tweeter after saying that Spain was like Italy, but a little worse. I do not even write his name because he had enough with the one that fell this summer. “Hi guys,” he tweeted in English quite gracefully, “I just wanted to confirm one thing: does ‘shit on your fucking mother’ mean ‘I respectfully disagree’?”
I don’t think Twitter makes us patriots, luckily for all of us. Undoubtedly, many things are mixed: it is easier to applaud the Deutsche Welle video if you are more or less in favor of public health (or even the Government). And in food disputes there is also a lot of joke and deception. There is also an ingredient of surprise: it seems normal to us that the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany are talked about here, but we are surprised that we are mentioned outside of Spain, since we tend to consider ourselves quite insignificant (understandably). And I do not rule out that those who think that paying so much attention to the foreign press is something very provincial.
But it is also true that once we all do something well together, we can rejoice. And maybe even celebrate with a good Spanish omelette. Although I will not say if with onion or without onion so as not to spoil the moment with an argument.
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