In my e-book, I write about needing to adapt & flex when travelling & living a nomadic lifestyle. To accept that your plans may have to change, or even be put on-hold . My pulmonary embolism together with Brexit-proofing ourselves initially halted our travel through Europe in early 2019.
So we stayed in Spain. But once my health & driving licences were sorted, after a year’s rental in Oliva, by March 2020, we could have carried on travelling.
We had a decision to make:
- Stay in the Oliva townhouse – a nice cheap rental within walking distance of all amenities
- Move house – look for another home in the local area better suited for the dogs
- Rent elsewhere in Spain – widen our home search to find an ideal property
- Travel again – re-start our journey through Spain towards France
House rental on the Spanish Mediterranean coast is very much seasonal, so in Autumn 2019, when Summer bookings were over, I began to look for a property with some outside space suitable for the dogs.
We couldn’t afford a villa with a garden, let alone a pool, but did find a rustic house near the sea. It had been a family holiday home, so was very basic & relatively cheap to rent, but needing some work to make it comfortable for an all-year-round home.
But did I mention? It was very close to the sea 
The dead-end street ended right on the beach with small shops & a few bars within walking distance.
We liked Oliva.
It felt like home & we weren’t bored of exploring nearby towns & the surrounding area. We’d also made friends in the ex-pat community, had joined the active U3A & were taking Spanish lessons. There would still be time to explore, but for now we were actually settled & I didn’t have itchy feet in the same way I did when looking forward to leaving Alhaurin el Grande.
As things have turned out, settling into a new home during w/c 9th March was great timing, especially as it took numerous trips with the car full of our belongings! We’d amassed more possessions during our year in one place (including two more guitars) & can no-longer easily fit everything into Dobbie…
At midnight on Friday 13th March, due to Covid-19 coronavirus, Spain was in a State of Alarm & all bars, restaurants & unnecessary services & stores were closed down. We were in lockdown & would have had to inform the police of the reason for our journeys back & forth between the two properties.
As a result, we couldn’t handover the townhouse keys to the agent & also couldn’t buy the goods necessary to make our new home more comfortable.
But we had a home with terrace at the front & small garden out back.
We were OK. More than OK, we were in a good position. We were fortunate.
All of Spain was instructed to ‘Quédate en casa’ (Stay at home) & only venture out for essential reasons – bulk food shopping & for dogs to relieve themselves. The initial two week lockdown soon turned into four, then extended by further two weeks until 26th April.
UK ex-pats in Spain were hoping the UK Government would do the same & quickly! My parents took the decision to self-isolate a good week before Boris Johnson announced the UK lockdown from 23rd March.
We watched the infection rates & deaths in horror, the recovery figures with hope.
Monitoring the progress of the virus in different countries & their response & actions.
Governments had to implement financial measures & funding for people unable to work or operate their businesses during lockdown. This in addition to paying for treatment of so many desperately ill patients; sourcing essential equipment, manufacturing new; chartering planes to fetch supplies from other countries; building temporary emergency hospitals & morgues & repatriating citizens from around the world back to their home countries.
We shared our experiences & frustration on social media with feeds soon turning from the bad news to include jokes, black humour & funny videos. People at home from their employed day jobs became bored so puzzles & activities made an appearance. Friends filmed themselves doing silly things & talented families’ musical performances went viral. A relatively unknown gym teacher became an overnight sensation when he began streaming classes online with parents joining their kids in exercise. Parents had to home-school their children, many whilst trying to work themselves. Employers had to ensure their employees were setup to work from home with managers quickly having to learn how to manage remote teams. Who hasn’t heard of Zoom meetings now? Some individuals coped better than others so mental health experts provided guidance on the effects of isolation on wellbeing. There was worry about the safety of people at more risk of domestic violence when isolated indoors with their abuser.
We all learned what the acronym PPE stands for & soon became aware that each country just didn’t have enough.
People at home volunteered to sew masks & laundry bags whist social media is full of innovative inventions.
Manufacturing companies switched from their usual product to make much needed ventilators.
In Italy, then other countries, apartment dwellers entertained their neighbours & neighbourhood with singing & music. This soon turned to expressing gratitude to the essential workers with applause at 8pm each evening. There were videos of emergency service workers playing & singing in the streets; wishing Happy Birthday to youngsters from the road; entertaining residents of care homes from the driveway & parading with lights & sirens as citizens clapped their appreciation.
Nurses began posting photos of the sweat & sores on their faces from wearing PPE for long hours. They described their experiences of working on coronavirus intensive care wards. As people didn’t stay home as directed, accounts of infection consequences were posted. Patients in pain, struggling to breathe in complete isolation with no contact with family & friends allowed. Dying in isolation. Reminders of the stress & emotional impact on hospital staff working in such unprecedented conditions.
Everyone, hopefully the politicians & company owners too, began to realise the essential workers having to continue working, caring for the sick, keeping the country going, were historically some of the lowest valued & certainly the lowest paid. As UK lockdown began, some millionaire owners of big companies initially refused to pay their staff, before being challenged by public opinion & facing Government scrutiny. Others stepped-up, supporting their workforce & donating essential supplies. The social & economic repercussions of this crisis will be felt for many years to come & there’s so much to be learned, an opportunity to make positive improvements in & for, future societies.
Meanwhile fines are issued to individuals breaking lockdown in Spain, whilst people still head to congregate in the parks in the UK. This Easter week, as they do every year, many Madrilenos are heading to their second homes on the coast.
Despite knowing the restrictions of lockdown.
Spanish police now have roadblocks on the main entry roads to coastal towns, whilst side roads are completely barricaded. Even more, each time we venture out, we need to ensure we have proof of address & valid allowable reason for being away from home.
