In Times of Coronavirus, we are now thankful. The worst seems to be over. Instead of giving the statistics at 11:00 in the morning, the government now gives them at 17:00 in the afternoon. There is less urgency because the news is not so bad anymore. Fewer than 100 coronavirus deaths per day is an important milestone.
So, people are beginning to laugh. The state lottery is selling tickets again. With the outdoor terraces of some bars reopened, everyone has begun to go out for a beer or glass of wine. Social distancing is sometimes forgotten but people are trying their best to follow the rules and rein in excessive enthusiasm. The memory of the 50-day confinement is still fresh, and no one wants to return to the bad old days. Wearing masks outside is now obligatory.
Yesterday morning when I went for a walk during my exercise shift, I saw people sitting outside, drinking coffee at socially distanced tables. After so long, it was such a strange sight that I had to stop and stare. It was a hopeful sign that the country was gradually returning to normal.
And so the government has turned its attention to resuscitating the country. This will not be easy. There are a lot of people either temporarily or permanently out of work. Businesses have to receive incentives to reopen and adjust to the new normal. Mrs. Neanderthal has a niece who, until Times of Coronavirus, used to be a flight attendant with EasyJet. Now she is the queen of her household.
The economy in Spain now resembles a Lego building attacked by my smallest granddaughter when she is in her search-and-destroy mode. The structure of the economy must be slowly and painstakingly rebuilt. Since a significant part of the economic fabric here depends on tourism, Spain is thus seeking ways to lure tourists back to resort hotels and beaches.
The first step will be to open up airports again and allow planes to bring in any tourists courageous enough to visit. For example, there are hundreds of Germans with vacation homes in Ibiza, and the Canary Islands. They naturally want to spend the summer in their island paradise. However, first Germany and Spain must arrive at some sort of agreement. The hope is that if the numbers continue to be propitious, a corridor will be set up between the two countries for those that wish to make the trip.
Nevertheless, enticing tourists to come here will not be easy because Spain’s version of the epidemic was more severe than that of other countries. Our death rate was even higher than Italy’s. Fortunately, this year, vacations will be cheaper than ever. So perhaps this will be enough to lure tourists back.
Yesterday I saw a FaceBook comment from someone in Portugal, who was horrified that Spaniards might one day be able to cross the border again and infect him. This reaction is somewhat understandable. Right now countries are nervous about taking a step backward. This is especially true for nations such as Portugal, who did their homework better than we did.
However, the worry goes both ways. Spain is also wary about opening its borders too soon. Our first recorded Covid-19 case was a German tourist in the Canary Islands. Then people flooded in from Italy as the pandemic worsened there. Spain blithely let everyone into the country without restrictions. After that, as we all know, the excrement hit the fan.
Perhaps for this reason, the Spanish government has just put a series of measures in place, such as a 14-day quarantine for anyone entering Spain from a foreign country. Right now, that is a significant deterrent for would-be tourists, who would have to spend their entire vacation inside their hotel room.
The logic is that this quarantine in May might be a way of assuring future travel in July. If we can keep the country germ-free for a few months, then everyone will think that it is safe to travel. Not that we can go anywhere right now. For the next few weeks at least, Spaniards are not permitted even to travel outside their own province, much less outside of Europe. People entering plague-ridden Spain have been reduced to a trickle.
My son, the police officer, has very little to do at the Madrid Airport these days because 98% of all air traffic has come to a halt. The few planes that arrive are less than half full, and they leave with even fewer passengers. Travelers are obliged to be both intrepid and resourceful.
All of these problems with air travel are still affecting my nephew, who has been stranded in Tokyo for the last three months. Although he claims that he is unable to return, I suspect that he has become rather fond of his life in Japan. Quarantine does not seem so bad there.
Japan is also in a state of emergency but confinement there is a question of social responsibility and Samurai self-discipline. The state of emergency falls far short of the harsh measures seen in Spain and Italy. It allows local governors to urge people to stay at home and to call on businesses to stay shut. But officials cannot compel citizens to comply, and there are no punishments for those who fail to do so.
In a flight of fancy, my nephew has told his parents that there are no flights back to Spain and that he will not be able to return until July at the earliest. Yesterday, my sister-in-law announced this to me with the same voice used when intoning a funeral dirge. Given her level of digital literacy, she has no choice but to believe him. There was a twofold reason for her melancholy. Apart from missing him greatly, she is also obliged to send him funds to survive there. Tokyo is an expensive city.
Against his mother’s wishes, my nephew had traveled to Japan in January to take a course. This investment was made in the hope of increasing his employability. Lamentably, he has not as yet found a niche in the job market that corresponds to his level of genius. The Japanese experience was supposed to remedy this state of affairs.
My nephew is one year younger than my son, the police officer, but they were never allowed to play together because my son was regarded as a bad influence. My son is the youngest sibling of four (and was obliged to develop survival mechanisms at a young age) whereas my nephew is an only child, who grew up enveloped in bubble wrap.
Out of (malevolent) curiosity, I took a look at Google Flights. It is true that there are no direct flights from Tokyo to Madrid, but if one really wanted to return, there are various more roundabout options long before July for a reasonable price.
However, I am not so evil as to inform my sister-in-law of this and burst the bubble of my nephew’s evident romance with his new ‘patrie de coeur’. I have been to Japan and understand why he finds it so attractive. I can only applaud his taste.
