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Saturday, October 3, 2020
Pierre’s soccer game this morning—cancelled.
David’s soccer game tomorrow afternoon—cancelled.
Youth group tomorrow evening—cancelled.
David’s birthday party with friends on Tuesday—cancelled.
Team meeting Thursday afternoon—cancelled.
Soccer practice Monday, Tuesday, Thursday—cancelled.
Church—cancelled.
Again?
At 5 p.m. last night, on October 2, 2020, the verdict fell.
Spain is in lockdown—AGAIN!
It seemed like we were just starting to find a “new normal.” We were just beginning to have a routine again—school, soccer, in-person work meetings, language classes, freedom to travel around the country.
After 50 days of strict quarantine back in March and April, 2020 and a seriously disrupted life, the country of Spain had finally begun to regain its freedom and normalcy little by little.
Although the law had continued to require the use of face masks in all public spaces, life seemed to go on. Life seemed to calm and settle.
Freedom. We tasted it again. It was beautiful.
World-breaking COVID numbers began to dwindle. Hospitals began to stabilize. Death tolls began to decline.
The country of Spain was finally beginning to recover from its COVID nightmare and trauma.
Returning to Normalcy
Schools opened their doors again in September 2020. Although kids and teachers wore face masks and medical dress coats, things seemed somewhat normal.
Our kids returned to full-time, in-person classes Monday through Friday. Spanish public schools, due to the large class sizes, returned to a hybrid model of every other day online or in-person. It allowed them to space out the children by alternating days.
Soccer clubs opened again. Our boys started practicing at their club three days a week and having in-club, practice games on Saturdays and Sundays. It was uncertain if competitive soccer would start up again between the clubs this year, but at least the kids were moving their bodies and kicking the ball into the goal.
Shopping malls reopened, movie theaters and bowling alleys welcomed happy customers, restaurants and tapas bars flourished financially once again.
Spain seemed to be alive again!
Until recently . . .
COVID Spike
Recently, numbers throughout the country began to spike again—reaching higher numbers than back in March 2020. Although the number of cases increased, the percentage of COVID-related deaths did not. It seemed that most of the cases were minor and under control.
We tried not to worry or be alarmed. I intentionally chose not to watch the news.
“Is Spain going back into another lockdown?” my mother texted me a few weeks ago from America. “It’s all over the news here!”
“Not that I know of,” I replied.
As days passed, however, the news began to intensify. It got louder and louder, and I couldn’t avoid it any longer. It was time to face our new reality. We could feel the tension, the panic, the darkness pressing in all around us. It felt like impending doom.
“Are we heading for another lockdown?” we would often ask each other.
At times, we even questioned if we were capable of surviving another period of quarantine. Last spring was intense and heavy. It was not a season in my life that I wanted to experience again. I didn’t want it for my family, my kids.
The country was still scrambling to recover. The economy of Spain, with tourism as its primary industry, had taken a hard hit! What would happen if the nation went into another major lockdown?
Each day, we followed the news. We watched the situation evolve. It seemed inevitable.
Ten Down to Six
Last week, the first verdict fell.
Since last spring, people were allowed to gather in groups of 10 in homes and closed public spaces. We could have small house dinner parties. The youth group could meet in our back courtyard. Kids could play indoor soccer with up to ten people. At restaurants, people could sit together in groups of ten.
Ten was the magic number in Spain. If you went over that, you were opening yourself up to a possible $600 fine.
Ten was the number . . . until last week. Last week, the number lowered to six.
We had to cancel youth group. We had to cancel our in-person work meeting and move it to zoom. We had to cancel indoor soccer. If we went to a restaurant as a larger group, we had to split up into tables of six.
Six became the magic number in Spain . . . until last night.
The Verdict
At 5 p.m. last night, the new verdict fell. The government announced that Spain would be in lockdown again starting at 10 p.m.
This time, it’s not the whole country. It’s just certain towns and city neighborhoods over 100,000 inhabitants with high numbers of COVID cases. The government made a decision to “lockdown” those towns. These restrictions affect more than three million people.
This lockdown means that people in those towns can circulate freely within their own city’s borders. However, they cannot leave their town except for work, school, or medical reasons.
In addition, people outside of the “locked-down” areas cannot enter those zones except for the same valid reasons.
Our small town, for example, is not in lockdown. However, we do all of our activities in the next city over which just happens to be “blacklisted” and now in lockdown. We do all our grocery shopping, work meetings, soccer club activities, etc. in that town. All of our friends live there. Our 14-year-old son, David, goes there twice a week to play indoor soccer and hang out with his friends.
I often joke that our car is on “auto pilot” to drive back and forth to that city. That’s how often we go there.
Now, non-residents can’t enter that town.
Special Permission
Thankfully, I can still go there. The safehouse where I work each week is located in that town. The government agency issued me a letter of permission that I can show to the police if they stop me at the border. I am allowed to enter that closed town to go to and from work (no stops along the way!).
My husband also can enter that town. He is studying Spanish at its university. Educational reasons is on the list of exceptions to enter a locked-down zone. Therefore, with his school letter, he can freely circulate across the border.
However, our kids can’t go. That means they can’t go to their friends’ homes, and their friends can’t come to see them. Our kids can’t go to soccer practices—only the kids who are residents of that town can go. We can’t do our grocery shopping there, so we will have to find another store.
It stinks.
So far, the schools are remaining open. For the morale of the people and for the country’s economy, the government said that schools will be the last thing to shut down.
Let’s hope and pray!
Spain is in lockdown—here we are again!
Staying Hopeful!
In the meantime, I will take advantage of filling the newly-blank space in our agenda with some fun, new family activities. Since the boys can’t play indoor soccer tonight, maybe we will drag out our cardboard box of old, musty board games or watch a family movie and pop some popcorn. Maybe we will roast marshmallows in our fire pit on the patio or go on a family hike in the countryside tomorrow. Maybe our kids (our entire family) can meet some new friends in the neighborhood. Maybe I will love my new grocery store—even more than my old one.
Spain is in lockdown again, but it will not break me! It will not break my family! It will not break this country! We will survive, and we are not without hope!
Last Night Together!
As soon as we heard the news last night at 5 p.m., our family scrambled to get out the door. We went to the local mall to go shopping, eat dinner in the food court, and go bowling. Our best friends here in Spain joined us.
We enjoyed each other’s company until the mall closed down, then we hugged each other and parted ways!
“See you in January!” our friend said with a laugh.
(I record all this and tell these stories in an effort to document the days.)
—THE CULTURAL STORY-WEAVER
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