Spain's streets turn eerily quiet following coronavirus lockdown
Spain’s usually teeming streets and bustling landmarks have come to a standstill after the Spanish government imposed a nationwide near-lockdown in hopes of tempering a coronavirus epidemic that has spiralled into one of the worst in Europe.
On Sunday, the number of cases of Covid-19 across Spain stood at 7,753 and 288 deaths. One week ago, Spain stood at 589 confirmed cases and 10 deaths.
Echoing measures taken by Italy – Europe’s hardest hit country – the Spanish government declared a state of emergency on Saturday, ordering the closure of all non-essential shops as well as bars, restaurants, cafes, football grounds and cinemas.
Residents have been ordered to stay at home, allowed out only to buy food and medicine or travel to work, health centres or banks. Travel is also allowed for those looking after the elderly or dependents.
Save for a handful of people walking their dogs or picking up groceries, most streets in Madrid were empty. “It’s shocking,” said Bertrand Martinez Peñalver as he looked out at a quiet boulevard. “Spain is a place where there are always people out. Now there’s nobody.”
Forced to wear a mask and winter gloves by his mother, the high-school student had been sent out to pick up bread. “I can’t be inside all day,” he said with a sigh.
Food shops, pharmacies, petrol stations and pet supply shops are among the businesses that will be allowed to remain open during the next fortnight.
In Madrid, police cars slowly made their way down the empty streets, using megaphones to blast out a prerecorded message warning residents to stay indoors for their security. A few joggers, out on their own to capitalise on the sunny day, were sent home promptly by police.
The Spanish government on Saturday said that Begoña Gómez, the wife of the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, had tested positive for Covid-19. Both are in good health, the government added. Two ministers in the Spanish government, Irene Montero and Carolina Darias, have also tested positive in recent days.
In Barcelona, the streets of the old city were abandoned by all but the homeless and the occasional dog walker. Usually at this time of year the city is teeming with tourists but by Friday afternoon the last Segways and rickshaws had been locked away and museums, galleries and other tourist attractions shuttered, forcing the few tourists to stay in their hotels and watch TV.
Road traffic had all but disappeared from Barcelona, sparking improvements in air quality and reports that the atmospheric levels of nitrous dioxide (NO2) have fallen by as much as 80%.
For many, the main anxiety seemed to be whether the state of emergency would stretch beyond the initial two weeks announced by the government.
Business school student Ana Murillo
had just started a work placement at a consultancy in Barcelona. The placement is an integral part of the course in marketing that she has nearly completed.
“The first thing they did when the lockdown was announced was to get rid of the interns,” she said. “I was supposed to finish by August but now I don’t know. The university is shut but they are saying we still have to sit our exams in May.” She hoped to be able to do some of her work placement from home, she added.
Across the country, rumblings of the impending lockdown had sent people rushing to supermarkets, piling their shopping trolleys high with jars of preserves, frozen food as well as toilet paper in preparation.
By Sunday, things had calmed considerably in the southern city of Seville, said Ramon Rodriguez Marquez. “I went to buy bread this morning and everyone was keeping a metre of distance between them and entering the bakery one by one. It was the same in the gas station.”
The sharp rise in the number of infections forced Seville to cancel one of its tourist main draws – the sombre Easter processions that normally wind their way through the city. The decision was a blow to the local tourism industry, sending booking plummeting and leaving many anxious to see how the government plans to deal with the economic fallout, said Rodriguez Marquez.
While most people across the country were resigned to complying with the lockdown, many worried that the measures had come too late, pointing to the huge rallies that had been allowed to go ahead across the country to mark International Women’s Day as well as a 9,000-strong rally for far-right Vox party last week.
“Last Sunday, this area where I live was total mayhem with thousands and thousands and thousands of people on the street,” said Eric Steinhauser as he looked out on the vacant streets below his apartment in Madrid’s city centre. “And I can’t believe the government had no inkling, from what happened in Italy, that this was going to be an explosive situation.”
Now he wondered how the lockdown would play out in a country where everyone is accustomed to spending most of their days outsid. “I don’t know how the divorce statistics will be two months from now,” he said with a laugh.”Because when everybody is locked into the same house … they’re going to be fighting like cats and dogs.”