This Country Does Not Work

The summer heat turned a broken air conditioner into the columnist’s central emergency. After enduring extreme temperatures in the Balearic Islands, she says the unit in her apartment stopped working in mid-July and finally gave out in early August, when the thermometer reached 35 degrees and humidity made the air feel unbearable.

She searched online, checked the phone directory and called several companies. Some could not come until September. Others promised to call back soon but never did. The likely problem, she was told, involved a gas that was difficult to obtain and was even being sold on the black market.

Eventually, a friend of a friend recommended a technician. He promised to visit, identify the machine and determine whether its gas was compatible. If the installation had become obsolete, he might have to replace it. The columnist accepted whatever solution he considered necessary, provided he came quickly.

The price was steep: about 100 euros an hour for the technician, additional pay for his assistant and a separate travel charge. In an emergency, she writes, people accept almost anything. With fans unable to make breathing comfortable, she says she might even have put the technician in her will if he had asked.

She spent the night awake in the heat but hopeful after the technician promised to come the next morning. At seven, he sent a WhatsApp message saying he could not arrive until the afternoon, though he would come without fail. The episode supports the article’s larger complaint: voters can choose whether to support politicians, but customers have little choice when they need a skilled technician. Finding a good one, the columnist says, is nearly a miracle.