To wonder what is happening in Spain with Covid

[Snowrabbit]

I have family links to Spain and the huge, densely populated region where my contacts are living have very, very few restrictions! Bars and restaurants are open (reduced numbers), allowed people in your home etc. Yes there's is a curfew (at 11pm) but life is pretty normal. They have had far less restrictions than us for months. Why on earth are our cases running rampant despite loads of restrictions and their lives are pretty normal and no reports of hospitals struggling (they were struggling a lot in March so it's not that they have huge capacity compared to us) Feel envious(!) and struggle to understand what's happening.

Good to read your comments about Spain orangeblossom from someone who lives there.

I lived in northern Spain for a year so I’m always interested in what’s going on.

Most people wear masks here in uk, but every time I’ve been to the shops in the last few months, there are a handful of people who don’t. No masks in secondary school lessons and it was spreading quickly in our local schools before Christmas hols.

That should have said before xmas...... no idea where December came from! They last officially audited cases and deaths were, I think, 19th Deecember.

@Ribidibidibidoobahday

Indeed *@turnitonagain*

Also I think you're missing the point slightly @annevonkleve with the comment on hardly anyone wearing masks on busy high streets, parks and queues. Instead of saying "Hmmm, yes, that is different," you're just pointing out that we don't have to.

Today: www.eldiario.es/sociedad/mapa-evolucion-coronavirus-expansion-espana-enero-4_1_1031363.html

30579 cases and 241 deaths since last Thursday just reported by El País. 58784 cases in 24 hours in the UK. 407 deaths. That's a big difference.
The rates in Spain now is 272 per 100.000. It is a slight drop but rates are increasing overall. But let's not pretend that the current situation in Spain and the uk is the same, it's not.

EL PAÍS
elpais.com/sociedad/2021-01-04/ultimas-noticias-del-coronavirus-en-espana-y-en-el-mundo-en-directo.html

[quote OrangeBlossomsinthesun]30579 cases and 241 deaths since last Thursday just reported by El País. 58784 cases in 24 hours in the UK. 407 deaths. That's a big difference.
The rates in Spain now is 272 per 100.000. It is a slight drop but rates are increasing overall. But let's not pretend that the current situation in Spain and the uk is the same, it's not.

EL PAÍS
elpais.com/sociedad/2021-01-04/ultimas-noticias-del-coronavirus-en-espana-y-en-el-mundo-en-directo.html[/quote]
Spain officially changed the way they were counting covid deaths in May just before the tourist season started. Even El Pais started referring to the rates as a 'false total'. It's thought that the death toll was actually up to 60% higher than reported then. I wouldn't believe anything Spain reports about either their death toll or rates per 100,000.

Believe what you like, we're not in March style lockdown and you are.

Ok ok, I could have been clearer that my reference was to Madrid! The rules ARE much more lax there and yet their hospitals are not in the same state YET as ours. Yes we do have the variant, but where I live, I've had no one in my home or been in a pub/restaurant for months , and hospitals under severe pressure anyway - long before variant. I don't believe the answer is as simple as masks. I agree with masks obviously but if that was the answer to allowing some form of economy and socialisation, our own government would be a whole lot tougher with them. My point is I'm surprised how lax rules in Madrid haven't caused rocketing cases numbers. There is no doubt their rules are lax. Not a conspiracy post. Just genuine surprise

As PP including me have said before, Madrid had some of the highest rates in Europe in the autumn and was forced into a lock down at the end of October by the national government. Cases in Madrid will rise.
Spain has to do the same as other countries in locking down and opening up repeatedly to try to balance cases and the economy. Madrid has not long come out of lockdown. What Spain does better than the uk on the whole is that it takes action more quickly than the uk (mostly) and is clearer about what you can and can't do and enforces that. Unlike the crap messaging and endless u turns in the UK

Masks are compulsory in secondary school in Scotland. Moot point though as school are closed.

@OrangeBlossomsinthesun not sure you’ve said where you’re based but my Catalonian friends are completely confused about what they can or can’t do. I.e depending on the day of the weeks also a friend was allowed to go to Mexico but another one couldn’t go to canarias (mixed messages given by mossos and policía nacional) their desescalada has been confusing as well

My Spanish friends actually were saying today that what makes it confusing in Spain today is that it’s 17 different laws across the country whilst uk is just the tiers.

Both have got pros and cons. I’d really not have liked to be there in March - June time. My family’s mental health has really deteriorated by it

I'm in Andalucía and it's been clear what we can do and well publicized and explained. Andalucia is a huge geographical area as well and so it doesn't really confuse us what the other end of the country is doing iyswim. We know what we can do here. We didn't have different rules at weekends either, just couldn't leave our municipalities for 6 weeks (in the most recent lockdown). March /April /May lockdown was fucking horrible though. I think people comply partly because none of us want to go back to that.

Tiers sound more confusing to me tbh.