It's not certain the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris can be saved. It's with that terrible piece of news offered by the French interior minister around 10pm, even if the firefighters say an hour later that they've been able to save the structure, that I'm writing this article. I experienced a similar feeling of bewilderment and astonishment when we learnt at the offices of newspaper El País, in January 1994, of the fire in Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu. Nothing could be saved on that occasion and now Paris is experiencing a Dantesque, dramatic situation, the result, the preliminary theory goes, of a chance fire in the works being carried out on the building. Another apparently inexplicable comparison with the fire at Barcelona's opera house and the works that were the cause there. Could nobody have foreseen it? Silence.
The cathedral of Notre-Dame is a worldwide icon. Who hasn't visited it when they've travelled to Paris? The year I lived in the French capital, after I left the editorship at La Vanguardia, I visited the symbolic temple dozens of times. It's impossible to not run across the majestic, imposing cathedral if you head towards the crossroads that is the Île-de-France. I remember the interminable queues, Paris from a gargoyle's perspective, the facade's imposing rose window, the silence inside the Gothic naves, the always numerous Japanese tourists...
The investigation into the causes of the fire is starting now. Emmanuel Macron's presidency now has its tragedy and it will be forever marked by this tragic event. Although Paris is very much Paris, coming back from this will take time. It will manage it, doubtlessly, and the cathedral will again shine and leave its visitors speechless. Today we're left with the tragedy of what happened and our albums of the photos we all have in front of the cathedral. How long will it be until we can take a similar photo again?