ALICANTE – Just like in the Region of Murcia, on the Costa Blanca people are watching with sorrow how thousands of Spaniards from risk areas (many from the Madrid region) come to the coast because they think that staying in quarantine at home is equivalent to a holiday. Children cannot go to school and parents now have the opportunity to work out from home, so why not go to the beach? The problem is the spread of the coronavirus and the irresponsibility of people from risk areas.
In Madrid, the region with the most infections and deaths, hospitals are jam-packed, medical staff is lacking and retired doctors are called in to help. Schools are closed, so the children are at least 15 days at home and the parents are often sent home by the companies to work from home (teletrabajo). If everyone adheres to the measures and stays at home to ensure that the coronavirus does not spread, nothing would be wrong.
But unfortunately many Madrilenians decide to pack their bags, get in the car en masse and drive to the coast or to the mountains for a “vacation”. Many families have a second home there where it is better to experience the crisis than in the busy city where everything is closed and in their view there is a greater chance of infection.
But the problem is that many Madrid residents go to the coastal towns or leave for the small mountain villages and export the corona virus to other regions. Of course this is not always the case, but you can. Someone who is infected does not get sick, but that can come with time, without this person knowing that and in the meantime in others has unknowingly infected the corona virus.
Infections
In regions like Murcia and in various coastal towns such as Gandia, Benidorm and villages in the Vega Baja region, the people of Madrid have now received the first infections. These are people who have come to the coast from Madrid or others who have been infected by people from Madrid. This is therefore irresponsible behavior whereby people unnecessarily expose vulnerable people such as the elderly and the sick to the danger of coronavirus.
mountains
The same also applies to people who drive from risk areas to the villages in the mountain regions. Often older people live there who did not suffer from anything until the families come from the risk areas. The problem is that hospitals are often far away and medical care is less rapid than in densely populated areas. In that case too, it is irresponsible thinking of the people from the risk areas.
Measures
The autonomous region Murcia is the first to make a decision that directly affects tourism. Especially domestic tourism because Murcia wants to keep holidaymakers from Madrid in the popular coastal towns. Therefore, only residents are allowed to enter or leave the cities of Cartagena, San Javier, San Pedro del Pinatar, Los Alcázares, La Unión, Mazarrón and Águilas and only if this is for legitimate reasons. In addition, the 367,000 residents are asked to stay at home as much as possible to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus. This of course also has an effect on the foreigners who are now on holiday there.
The municipalities Guardamar, Torrevieja, Orihuela, Pilar de la Horadada, Cullera, Gandia, Benidorm, Alicante, La Vila Joiosa, Finestrat and Castelló de La Plana have decided to close their beaches and the lifeguards to remove. The reason for this is to indicate that Spain, from now on in the state of emergency, is not “on vacation” but that people are called upon to take their own responsibility by quarantining and avoiding contact with others.
In almost all of Spain, but especially in the tourist regions, it has already been decided before the declaration of the emergency to close bars, restaurants, discos, terraces, shops, shopping centers, etc. and only to keep supermarkets, petrol stations and pharmacies open.
This ensures that towns and villages become ghost towns and that there is nothing to do. The reason for that, of course, is to make sure people stay indoors and prevent the virus from spreading. On Saturday, more far-reaching measures can be taken by the Spanish government that have direct consequences for traveling to and from Spain.
On holiday?
Many readers ask the editors of Spain Today if it is still wise to go on holiday to Spain, including the Canary Islands. The answer is not easy because that is the responsibility of everyone in themselves. As long as the roads, ports, stations and airports are open, it is possible to travel, but everyone should check whether it is wise to either import the coronavirus accidentally to Spain or take the coronavirus as an unwanted souvenir with them to their own country.
The chance of infection is always present and prevention is better than cure. Going on holiday should and may not be so important that the health of yourself and others is less important. These are difficult decisions and for many people a far-from-my-bed show where many people think it is panic and everything is exaggerated, but facts are facts and common sense is common sense. The coronavirus is not a simple flu, that comparison is now no longer a pandemic.
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