Coronavirus in Spain

Like the rest of the world, we watched as the Coronavirus hit China, then Italy, and then it came fast and furious to Spain.

Originally, it was concentrated in Madrid, the Basque Country and Mallorca. Then it started hitting closer to home. Spain’s government acted fast.

The first signs of changes in our town that we noticed was the boys’ schools informing people to wash hands and cover coughs. Unfortunately, neither boy’s school provides soap in any of the bathrooms (I have sent hand sanitizer in their lunch boxes since the first day of school), so these efforts would not have been very effective.

Then one afternoon Oliver arrived at soccer practice to find no one there. The police had come across a woman at a bus stop wearing a medical mask and feared she might be infected, so emergency protocols were put in place. All extracurricular activities, including sports practices and games were cancelled (unfortunately, we hadn’t yet been added to the WhatsApp group and hadn’t gotten the message). The entire region’s bus fleet was sanitized over night. The next day people started talking about closing schools. People hurried to grocery stores to stock up and supplies started to run out.

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By evening the president of Spain recommended all schools and universities to close, but it was up to each region to make an official decision. By bedtime, the government of Andalucia officially closed schools for 2 weeks.

By the next day, bars and restaurants were closed in many regions of Spain and a campaign was started “Quédate en casa,” urging people to stay home and not to use the two weeks off school as a vacation hanging out with friends.

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Picnic areas and playgrounds were closed.

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And then they closed the beach.

Part of the reason for the beach closure is to discourage people from Madrid from coming. Madrid has been hit hardest and is now under lockdown, with all bars, restaurants, stores, etc. closed. Many people have fled the lockdowns and headed to the coastal towns, possibly spreading the virus (one infected man actually traveled hours by train from Madrid to Murcia, then went to the grocery store before being taken to the hospital). On one of our few outings Todd spoke to the owner of the Lebanese restaurant. He was closing his restaurant for 20 days in response. He pointed to the apartment buildings around his restaurant saying that usually they are vacant until the summer when the owners from Madrid come to escape the heat. He had seen lights on in many of them. He preferred to be home with his family.

Runs on the grocery stores continued. There were lines down the aisles and people actually had to wait outside because the store was too full. Many products were completely unavailable.

It is oddly quiet around here. People are staying indoors. Even the parking lots that are usually full of camper trailers for tourists from England, Germany and Denmark are completely empty. I’m not sure where they went.

Keeping two active boys contained all day for 2 weeks has the potential of being challenging. We created a list of required activities to keep them busy, helpful and intellectually engaged.

Oliver has been given school work digitally through Google classroom and through the online communication system iPasen.

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Each day the boys have to do chores. They practice their instruments (next week’s lessons will be provided through Skype). We’ll try to keep Leo’s brain engaged with reading, writing and Kahn academy math, but eventually assignments will be sent by email.

And we want to ensure that they go outside and are active each day. For the first day living right on the beach was helpful, we were able to be out without coming into contact with people. Now that they’ve closed the beach, we may need to play in our little yard.

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They earn time for Garage Band, and computer games. Extra time can be earned for positive behavior and kindness towards their brother (we need to keep the peace).

In effort to retain some sanity, I still need to work out. Our beach workout park has been closed, but I can still get up early while no one is up and go for a run on the beach trail (I think).

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We were supposed to have a visit from our dear sister-in-law, but together we decided it would be best to postpone her visit for a variety of reasons. First, the US government has prohibited travel from Europe (although it only actually applies to “aliens”). Second, Spain’s government has implored people not to travel unless absolutely necessary. Third, she would travel from Oregon (where there are cases), through Seattle (where there are lots of cases), through Paris (more cases) and into the Málaga airport (the hotbed of cases in our region). Traveling through so many infected places would put her at risk, risk spreading anything she came into contact with and probably ensure that she would be put into quarantine upon returning home, not to mention our concerns for Todd’s dad, currently living with her, being exposed. And finally, since Spain was basically put on lockdown, everything that she wanted to visit has been closed.

It’s a little lonely to be so far away from home during this, but I think that Spain may actually be a better place than the U.S. at this point. Be safe and be healthy wherever you are, and wash your hands!

Update: The first big changes started Wednesday, with soccer practice being cancelled. Now it is midday Saturday, and this was just announced:

As of today, Saturday, freedom of movement will be severely restricted with citizens required to stay at home for the next 15 days.

The Royal Decree issued today says citizens will only be able to use public roads for the following reasons:

1. Acquisition of food, pharmaceuticals and basic necessities.
2. Visits to health centres.
3. Travel to the workplace to perform work or business-related activities.
4. Return to the place of habitual residence.
5. Assistance and care for the elderly, minors, dependents, people with disabilities or especially vulnerable people.
6. Visits to financial entities.
7. Due to force or need.
8. Any other activity of an analogous nature duly justified.