Sunday marked the end of the state of alarm and the move into “new normal ,” across all of Spain (although after 3 days, the region of Aragon had to lock back down due to a spike in COVID cases).
The main change is allowing free movement throughout all of Spain and allowing European Union and Schengen area citizens to enter Spain for the first time since mid March. However the border with Portugal is still closed (until July 1st at Portugal’s request).
“New Normal” isn’t normal. People are still required to wear masks inside any businesses or any outdoor locations where you cannot maintain 2 meter’s distance. Swimming pools are closed for the summer. Beaches are closely monitored to avoid overcrowding, and to enforce social distancing. Playgrounds, outdoor workout parks and picnic tables will remain closed for the summer as well. Businesses still have to limit the numbers of people allowed in at the same time. All summer festivals and celebrations have been cancelled.
For example, tonight is the Fiesta de San Juan. Normally, it is a busy night of bonfires, barbecues and fireworks on the beach, culminating in people bathing their faces in the water at midnight in hopes of a year of beauty. This year, the police cleared the beaches of people, starting at 8:30pm.
People were allowed to return at midnight, however, to bathe their faces.
Flights in and out of Spain have resumed, but at a greatly reduced frequency. In July there will be an average of 100 flights per day, whereas last year the average was 512 per day. Because of so many flights being cancelled, we will be staying 2 weeks longer than we originally planned, and two weeks beyond the end of our townhouse lease. We had to find somewhere else to for our last couple of weeks in Spain. Luckily we were able to rent the very first apartment we lived in when we arrived in Spain.
After moving into this apartment, however, our flight was cancelled yet again, and we booked a new flight out one day later (we’re on Plan G now if you are keeping track). Unfortunately, we were not able to extend our stay in our current apartment for that one day. Summer rentals here are done by the fortnight, so adding a day would cut into the first day of July’s first fortnight. We could wait until the last minute to see if it doesn’t rent, but we are not interested in adding more uncertainty to our current situation, so we’ve decided to make a return trip to the Guadalhorce Reservoir and spend our last night there.
A couple of weeks ago we made a day trip to the Ardales region, to visit the Guadalhorce Reservoir and the Ardales Caves. We had planned to visit the caves in March during our sister-in-law’s visit, but due to Covid-19 both her visit and the cave visit were cancelled. At the beginning of June, as we entered Phase 2, the cave museum called and asked if we would like to visit. We jumped at the opportunity to go somewhere.
Climbing the hillside above the caves. 
The entrance to the cave
The Ardales cave, also known as Doña Trinidad Grund Cave, features several prehistoric paintings, etchings, and a fossilized prehistoric rope.
The Ardales cave is a little over an hour’s drive from our home, so we decided to also stop at the Guadalhorce Reservoir, which was just down the road, for a swim.
We walked out to a peninsula called La Isla to jump off the cliffs.
The water in the reservoir is warmer and cleaner than the Mediterranean, and the boys LOVED it (we all did, really) and have repeatedly asked to return. That’s why when faced with having to vacate our home, again, we have decided to spend our last two days there.
Fingers crossed that Plan G is the one that will get us out of Spain and on our way home.
Adrift in Andalucía 