The Wider Image: High power prices drive some patients in Spain into poverty
Alvaro, 40, a caregiver, and his client Jose Maria Casais, 69, talk while cooking in the kitchen, as Casais uses a nasal cannula connected to a portable oxygen concentrator respiratory machine to breathe, in Barcelona, Spain, December 14, 2022. Casais, a retired engineer, says he is being forced to raid his savings every month after his energy bills soared because of his reliance on the oxygen machine to alleviate his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). For the past two years, Casais has been plugged into the oxygen concentrator for up to 24 hours a day. His electricity bill has almost tripled since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, he says, triggering an energy crisis in Europe because of its dependence on Russian gas. REUTERS/Nacho Doce SEARCH "DOCE ENERGY CRISIS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.