We have never had to stop and think about the importance of space in our relationship with others. Going from a "meet-confinement" to being obliged to maintain a prudential safety distance and take cover behind Plexiglas screens to avoid contagion is a novel scenario that resizes our social boundaries.

The new reality -with its health obligations- has allowed us to come down from the screens to the street and, once we can continue interacting outdoors, institutional life and its protocol have resumed their journey. However, the spaces of its traditional scenography have to be readapted to the new circumstances.

committee The first face-to-face meeting of Ministers held after the end of the state of alarm, at the beginning of June, was a significant example in this regard. From the traditional conference room of the building of the committee of Ministers, inside the Moncloa Complex, another larger conference room with a U-shaped table was moved to ensure the security distance between the members of the Executive -all wearing the mandatory face mask-. In itself, this event, broadcast by the media, was the first institutional image of the return to the new normality in a new organizational space.

Apart from the new guidelines that, with its example, offered us this first post-confinement meeting of the Executive, another act that also opens new organizational perspectives was reflected in the signature between the Government and the social agents of the agreement for the Economic Reactivation and the employment held last Friday, July 3. This agreement, developed in La Moncloa as in previous signings of governmental agreements with the employers and trade unions, had the novelty of being held in the gardens in front of the main entrance of the building of the committee of Ministers.

The choice of this venue, different from the Tàpies hall where the previous agreement was held with the same actors on May 11, was very interesting from an organizational point of view. On the one hand, it could be held outdoors, in the open air, thanks to the good weather and summer period in which we find ourselves. On the other hand, it allowed us to use the ample green space between trees in the gardens to place the central lectern used for the speeches -in the previous one a voice-over was used to narrate and call the signatories-, the table for the signature and to place the chairs separated in an amphitheater where the members of the different parties and the press were placed. This event, apart from its impeccable aesthetics and symbolism, complied perfectly with all the established health prevention measures (obligatory use of masks, interpersonal safety distance and preference for meeting of people in the open air).

Another example is the State tribute for the victims of the coronavirus and gratitude for the health workers who are fighting against the pandemic, which was held on Thursday, July 16 at the place de la Armería of the Royal Palace in Madrid. A secular and non-denominational event, of great symbolic strength, developed in a circular space of equality around a cauldron, outdoors, in the presence of state, European and international authorities. A ceremony woven of an important sensory beauty that has been able to poetically convey the message of mourning, expressed in the black of the label, with the white of peace, hope and humanity reflected in the white of the roses offered by the victims.

These governmental events cited above teach us new guidelines in the organization of meetings, signature of agreements, official events... in the face of the present status sanitary situation and are a practical example of organizational adaptability. It is true that the spaces, resources and dimensions of official institutions allow for this creativity and adaptation. Just as the summer weather facilitates the development of outdoor events. But, even if we lack these advantages and in view of the autumn and winter months, observing them can provide us with ideas to put on internship for our events, playing with the use of new rooms, resorting to more open spaces... Flexible and imaginative options that will allow us to continue to carry out our institutional activity while respecting the mandatory prevention measures.

In this regard, architecture has a lot to say in this regard and, given the new needs for interpersonal space and environmental hygiene and ventilation, it is time to rethink the buildings and interiors of the Covid era so that they can harmonize health safety and the concentration of people.