You might think no, health has no price, and it's ugliness to measure it in money, but our society puts an amount: go to an insurance company and you'll see how much the little finger of your left hand or the tip of your nose costs, for example, if you lose yourself in an accident. The relatives of the deceased who have worked with asbestos for years have also learned how much cancer is quoted in the allowances agreed by the courts (although at that time we did not know that this substance was a carcinogen).

The Council of Gipuzkoa wants to build a giant furnace to burn waste in Zubieta, so many neighbours have been outraged. In places where similar incinerators have been carried out, there are associations of those affected who claim that abortions have increased, children born with malformations and cases of cancer. To confirm that this is not a hysterical crew, a lot of doctors have also been published, saying the same thing. The Member, for her part, to rest assured that there is no risk, that everything is under control. (I don't know about these things, but when I hear them I always remember the film Jaws of Spielberg about how the mayor tries to reassure citizens and tourists when the first dead appear and says there's nothing strange.)

As if it were a magic potion to calm those concerned, the MEPs have reached an agreement with the public company Biodonostia to measure the consequences of the incinerator. If I wasn't cynical, it would be ridiculous. Suppose that about 50,000 people live in the nearby population (within a radius of five kilometers; if it extends to 25 km, almost 500,000), the number of abortions, malformations, or cancers increases by 1 per cent. That 1% is insignificant, right? In addition, how can we know that it is a direct consequence of the incinerator and that it is not the result of other factors or by chance? Faced with this damage, which could be described as doubtful, will the infrastructure, which has cost so much EUR million, be suspended? And what do you do with the rubbish from now on? The builders and managers of the incinerator should also continue to be paid the same.

So if you or one of your family has to be in that 1%, think that you have been hit by the lottery of bad luck, the sacrifice on the altar of progress, like accidents on the roads. Otherwise, it may be tempted to blame this misfortune on unscrupulous (expensive) negotiators and (cheap) rulers who talk of political revenge. Then we'll have to wait for the courts to know how much your cancer is worth.