Tales from the Lockdown in Spain

Hello again! It has been ages since we updated the blog. We mostly write about traveling and our new life in Spain but it has been quite difficult to find inspiration given that we haven’t left home for eight weeks. The last time I was more than a few hundred meters from home was March 11th when I took a flight back from London. I returned with a stinking cold so decided to self isolate; a few days later Spain entered the lockdown.

Spain has been severely affected by the virus and, despite lots of criticism, I think the government acted swiftly and boldly. The lockdown conditions we have been living with for two months are some of the most severe in the world. Unlike most of our European neighbors we have not been allowed out to exercise or get some fresh air. One person from each household is allowed to go to the grocery store, pharmacy or a medical appointment. Apart from a handful of trips to the local supermarket, Iain and I have not left our apartment for 51 days.

The level of  compliance appears to have been high and that is probably because the penalties for defying the rules are severe. Minimum 600 Euros fine for being outside with no reason and up to 10,500 Euros for holding a party. We have seen police in our neighborhood ensuring that no-one is flouting the regulations. The couple of times I have gone out to the store the atmosphere has been other-worldly. The empty streets and closed stores, paused in time from March 14th, feel like an apocalyptic movie scene.

It’s been such a weird time, as it has for everyone. There is no outside space with our apartment so we have been craving the outdoors. Fortunately we can see and hear the sea from our windows. We are of course grateful for our health, fast wifi and Netflix. And it isn’t lost on us that we are privileged that we don’t work on the front line having to deal with the sharp end of the pandemic. But the emotional roller coaster has been real. I am probably one of the least sentimental people I know, yet I have found my self having heartfelt conversations with colleagues about how we are all feeling and what we think the future may be like.  Almost everyone I speak to has talked about how fragile we are all feeling. 

We have kept ourselves busy with our growing real estate obsession. This whole situation has really brought out our nesting instincts and, as much as we have loved life on the road for the last 6 years, a home base has always been something we always considered returning to when we found the right place and the time was right. We both agree that the time is now and the place is Spain. So we have spent countless hours armchair browsing various properties and neighborhoods and we are champing at the bit to get out in the car to explore areas that are of interest. We’ll share our experiences of buying a home, in whatever the property market conditions are after this whole situation is over. 

We also can’t wait to get back in the motorhome. We took a brief trip just before lockdown but, like us, the motorhome has been tucked away for far too long and we can’t wait to brush off the dust and head out again.  We were in the middle of re-registering it with Spanish plates right before everything went crazy. That process will resume once the lockdown is lifted.

There is light at the end of the tunnel for us now. Last week children under 14 were allowed out for an hour a day for exercise with a parent and tomorrow we will also be allowed out during restricted hours for the same.  Extra bonus, we can go out together. We are giddy with excitement at the prospect of breaking out the sunscreen, leaving our slippers behind and taking a walk in the sunshine beside the beach. We hope this is the start of a planned eight week de-escalation that will return us to some kind of new normal.  Who knows what the future will hold, and how long we will have to live with the virus and its far-reaching consequences? All we can do is go out and face the world and all the crazy shit it throws at us. Good luck to all!