To talk to you about life in Spain right now

[Changednamesorry]

In case UK follows many other countries and tightens the rules, I made a post about what it's like here in Spain.

A few things worth buying. Vitamin D for kids in case you are not allowed to take them out from next week, especially if you have no outside space. Craft materials (these are now very scarce here as supermarkets have had to close that section if they had it to discourage browsing). Disney Plus for movie nights. Microwave popcorn!

I live in Spain. We have an apartment in the city centre and no outside space at all. I am separated from my son's father but we chose for him to move in just before the lockdown as we saw it coming in the news and wanted to ensure the kids were not separated from him for months on end. We get on very well, I appreciate this is not an option for everyone. We also have a flatmate who is a lovely 27 year old Portuguese guy. So we are 3 adults and 2 kids in 115 square metres of space..... And that's better than some of our friends who live in 60 or 70 square metre apartments. Spanish children have not been outside for 3 weeks. My sons are 9 and 3 and normally active boys doing lots of sports and we are normally out of the house every day between 8am and 8:30pm. That has all changed. Schools are fully closed and have been since 13th March, no exceptions.

1. How are people coping with kids?

Varying levels of coping, of course. Here with the little one I bake, do drawing, dance, play football inside etc. For the older one I made little bags. One has basketball drills (his favorite sport) which he does 2 a day. One has exercise sets (I will post an example), one has different amounts of screen time and one has activities linked to school (maths, history, Spanish, English, science projects, baking etc). He chooses 3 of those.

1. Grocery shopping.

My ex goes to the shops once every 6 days. That's it. You are asked to carry a paper justifying your journey. You can not go to whatever shop you choose. You must go to the closest one to home. If you are caught turning this into a walk you will be stopped and fined between 600 and 30000 euros. If the police decide you are covering up a walk with a "shopping trip".... Fined. Someone I know was fined 200 euros for only buying a can of coke and a chocolate. We have not seen scenes of panic buying or bulk buying here, possibly because in cities most do not have a car so you take a granny trolley and a couple of bags for life so no space for millones of toilet paper etc. This may be different in rural areas but there haven't been many reports of it (I haven't seen any, in fact). People wear a mask and gloves and supermarkets make you queue outside 2 meters apart and don't let many people in at a time. Most supermarkets also provide gloves and require you to wear them.

1. What can you leave the house for?

Essential food shopping, pharmacy, medical appointments, essential workers, walk your dog (but only so he can go to the toilet... No big long walks) Only allowed to leave the house individually unless you are accompanying someone who is unable to go alone.

4.Can you use your garden or roof terrace?
If it is for private use, yes. If it is for communal use (shared garden or roof terrace with other flats), no. You'll get fined as if you were outside.

1. Clapping?

Yes. Every night for keyworkers at 8pm. Most people join in. Slight difference with UK is its unusual for kids to be in bed before 9pm here. Occasionally will be extra one for kids at 6pm.

1. Doctors appointments

All non urgent appointments canceled. Telephone appointments with emailed prescriptions available and I had one within an hour of asking.

Please stay safe. It's difficult, but it's not forever and it will be less time the more people abide by the rules. Feel free to ask any questions and I will try to answer. It's tough, but we are coping. So will you if the UK tightens the rules for a while.

Maybe someone can come and talk about life in Sweden right now.

First genuinely helpful corona virus post
Thank you OP
Are there still newspapers?

@Changednamesorry thank you very much

@Staypositivepeople

One of them needs to be slapped with a £25,000 fine and I’m sure it’ll hit home with the idiots.

An interesting view.
And maybe some of what is to come in the UK, if people keep going out for no good reason.

We need something like that here. This going out once a day for exercise is taking the proverbial (but possibly slowly achieving the aim of building some herd immunity as the government initially intended. I keep seeing people popping into our little Tesco just piping in for a frigging cup of coffee from the Costa machine

Ewww people actually drink from those machines Themother?

I hope we aren't made to only go to our local shop. Ours is a nisa, mainly sells crisps and chocolate and is hideously expensive. Theres a co op about 1.5 miles away that I usually walk to instead.

I don't disbelieve they are disinfecting the streets hopeisnotastrategy so I don't see why you posted the photo.

The reason I posted is that I'm a childminder, taking key worker children whose parents work in frontline NHS roles: one works in intensive care.

I have had no information about how to clean my home or how to keep me, the children and my own family safe: I've had to search it out myself. The information I've found said up to 72 hours on plastics, fabrics a little less.

Now I read on this thread that other countries are disinfecting the streets after periods a lot longer than I'd been led to understand.
That makes me very concerned that my cleaning and safety procedures are inadequate.

I disagree Wehttam there has been the mention of riots for weeks if this is closed or they stop people doing this or that that it is just like the Brexit debates social order will collapse it hasn’t and it won’t

Many people love drama they would soon change their minds should it happens close to home

Staypositivepeople it would work here we are a fairly compliant culture we like order. There will always be those that think it doesn’t apply to them but the vast majority of us have complied

I'm in Valencia. DH lives separately and can pick DD up for a week next week as long as he is in possession of our 'family book'

We can't go to our second home 10 mins away (which is truly isolated) which is what we want to do (as it has a garden, unlike the flats we all live in) schools are shut but DD is getting full time lessons, to schedule, every day from 9/5pm. It is working really well.

We can go to the shop and need no proof here (yet) I always go at 3pm when it is siesta time and sometimes take DD (11) to help carry so we go less often. Never been questioned.

No problem with food supplies apart from a tiny bit at the very beginning. Certainly no riots or disobedience.

Everyone is getting on with it. We also have mental health problems, want a walk, have young DC's, want to exercise etc, but it is a global pandemic and we deal with it. Absolutely NOBODY has been seen in my town flouting rules.

Streets are empty, people are terrified of dying, not indignant about their 'daily exercise'

The attitude in the UK is extraordinary.

To the PP who asked about pet shops... yes, they are open! (But empty)

Hopefuly we are turning a corner...

I am self employed too. The nature of mu industry is such that I have made 0 since January. I still have to pay my social security fee each month which is unrelated to earnings if you are self employed. So, even if you earn 0 that month you still pay. In the first year its 60 a month, second it is 140 third it is approximately 300. I am in my second year and payment was taken on March 31st as usual. There is talk of measures but we are waiting. They involve a freeze on social security payments if you made 75% less than the same month last year, a small monthly subsidy (around 700 euros maybe) grants of "up to 2000" etc. Still waiting too see if I get any help. Unclear atm. Luckily I'm pretty frugal and had s couple of thousand in savings so eking that out and having s flatmate helps. Sharing good costs between all 3 and cooking together and eating together always makes things cheaper snd my ex being a chef means he is excellent at making the most out of food.

I understand employees are a bit better off. It's illegal to be permanently fired atm, you get put on ERTE which is like a temporary lay off and the state pays 70% of your base salary with an upper limit of approximately 2000 (i think). This happened to my son's father who works in s restaurant.

Evictions are banned during the state of alarm and contracts due to run out are automatically extended should the tenants wish. There is some law about landlords with 2 or more properties being required to negotiate discounts or something but I'm not totally clear. I know that a distinction is made between professional landlords and people letting out one property.

There is talk of universal basic income but not much movement so far.

Yes the military are supporting the police. Remember Spanish police are a bit less fuckwithable than British ones as a) there are more of them abd b) they are all armed.

Many people sre trying to help by reassuring local businesses that they sre putting awsy some of what they are "saving" by not hsving their morning coffee in tthe local bar or whatever and plan to hsbd cash over later. I am still paying my babysitter his 80 euros s month (he normally does 1.5 hours a week). He ks lovely and while I can I will pay. Most people are doing this sort of thing who can. I earn around 28000 a year so not lady bountiful haha! But everyone I know is doing this, trying to take care of each other. Many people I know far poorer than me are doing similar, planning to give 10 euro each to the local Cafe bar per month, or some are continuing to pay a local lady offering art classes, semi organized so if we all give a bit hopefully everyone will manage.

Mortgage holidays..... There is talk but you have to fit absolute critical criteria I believe. Not sure.

Enthusiasm we are only in the third week of lockdown. This is still the honeymoon period. People are still crafting and doing yoga, many just about surviving off their last pay day, some with nothing more to come in the next few weeks.

Do you think people will starve quietly?

Do you think people will starve knowing supermarkets a few minutes away are loaded up with food they can not afford to buy?

It’s not wishing this to happen, it’s being aware this could potentially happen if drastic protections are not put in place.

Many People are failing and there’s no safety net to catch them.

* The attitude in the UK is extraordinar*

Parts perhaps.
I live in affluent SE commuter town. Beautiful place and usually buzzing at weekend. I’ve just popped out for a walk. Dead. Absolutely dead.

Tanith Spain is very clean and where I live the streets are disinfected and cleaned every morning and always have been. Old ladies bleach in front of their houses and always have! It used to make me feel sick on the school run.

And angry about the environment.

I have noticed no extra cleaning particularly.

How long have you been on lockdown?

BillieEilish my IL’s live just outside Valencia and there most certainly have been reports of arrests for people not following the rules, people moaning, people taking the piss. In their small town a group of 20 youths were found gathering late every evening to play football together.
There is a feeling that it is just people in the UK who have a particular ‘attitude’. Actually, most of us here are getting on with it just like you are reporting that most people there are.
Close to 100,000 people have been fined in Italy for not following the rules. 1000 arrested. It’s not just here.

@BillieEilish is very much correct about attitudes. Noone is making much fuss, most people sre hunkering down snd getting ob with it. Have seen almost no civil disobedience, in fact... None.

I agree that from our perspective UK attitudes are extraordinary. There have also been zero reports of coronavirus specific violence like slashing ambulance tires, teens breathing in people's faces, coughing or spitting at people (wtf). Not one. That stuff is really shocking.

People having a party here face fines in the tens of thousands. In week one there was a 7 or 8 person orgy (!) nearby but it was busted and the fine was astronomical. It was in the press and they may also get a custodial sentence.

Everyone is wearing masks here now, whether paper or home made cloth.

For me, life in Spain sounds very similar to here. Interesting that it seems so different to some people.

I wish more people on MN would read your post and realise exactly what is going to happen because of the idiots who are either too stupid or selfish to realise that they are putting everyone at risk by not sticking to the rules about going outside.

We are going to have further restrictions imposed soon because of the few who think they know better and continue to go outside when they DON'T have a good reason.

I've read posts saying that couples are going out separately and then together, then take their children out, then go for a bloody cycle or a run !
It's NOT OK to go out several times a day eg once with the dog, then to the shop for a drink, then a walk with child, then a run alone...........

WHY can't people realise this is stupid/ wrong/ dangerous/ irresponsible etc ????

Or the one who said that because all their friends felt fine, they met up at ones house ! And they really DON'T see the problem with that !!

Spain used to be a fascist dictatorship. There will be many people who remember living under that regime.

No one is making any fuss in the town i live in in the UK either OP. All my Facebook friends are pleading with people to stay home.

It's NOT OK to go out several times a day eg once with the dog, then to the shop for a drink, then a walk with child, then a run alone...........

It depends on where you live though. In unpopulated areas you could do that quite easily without significantly increasing the risk of infection.

www.lavanguardia.com/vida/20200323/4829085799/coronavirus-calles-vacias-barcelona-madrid-espana-confinamiento-covid-19.html

Scroll down past the text to see what streets in big cities look like atm.

In unpopulated areas you could do that quite easily without significantly increasing the risk of infection.

You may be right, but it's risky when people feel they can decide for themselves where that line gets drawn. How unpopulated is unpopulated?

There was someone on here the other day asking if she could still hang her washing in the garden in case virus 'got on it'. With questions like that flying about I don't trust 'the general public' to make sensible calls on what's OK and what's not.

I wish I did, but I don't any more.