Polopos is stuck in the clouds
What corona exit strategy ?
In the clouds
Polopos is stuck in the clouds. It has been for weeks. I know this is not entirely true because I was sitting in the sun a few days ago. But when the sun does come out, it is only for a moment. The day invariably ends in an all-consuming white. Mist, we say in the Netherlands, but Polopos is 800 meters above sea level. So they are clouds.
It is fitting that Polopos has been stuck in the clouds for weeks. A clear blue sky wouldn’t suit social isolation. The world is shrouded in a haze, just like the future, just like the virus. Those who go outside have to be be careful. Turn on your fog lights. Reduce your speed. Wear gloves and a mask. Who knows what is hiding in that fog? Better stay indoors...
In the dark
Stephen King once wrote a book entitled "The Mist". It is about a group of people who get stuck in a supermarket surrounded by fog, in which an invisible enemy kills whoever sets foot outside the door. The tension slowly rises in the supermarket. One suspects a military laboratory nearby, another thinks it is the end of time. He could have been writing about the corona virus and the lockdown. Everyone has their own theory.
King's book was published 40 years ago. It is not about the coronavirus. Yet it is appropriate that it all takes place in a supermarket. Supermarkets are one of the few places where you are still allowed to go in Spain. I do my shopping in Motril. There is a huge supermarket with aisles that are four meters wide. That makes it easy to keep your distance. There are people wearing face masks, people without face masks and people that wear masks, but with their noses uncovered. Some fidget with their mask continuously, with or without gloves. Most do what they can, but they are walking around in the dark in broad daylight.
In the present
At each freeway exit, the Guardia Civil checks to see if people have a legitimate reason to travel. They pull over cars with more than one person in them mainly, but today it's my turn.
After I put on my mask and open the window, the officer asks where I am going. "Polopos," I reply. "And where did you come from?" "The supermarket". Delivery service, I want to add, but I can’t think of the Spanish translation. We are friends with a foreign family that does not speak Spanish and is not officially registered. They do not dare to go on the road with their foreign license plate, afraid to be pulled over by the Guardia Civil and maybe… yes, what exactly? Be expelled? Arrested? Or just fined...?
Anyway, I do some shopping for this family and my car is loaded. So my alibi is tight. But the important and scary thing is that there are some of us who don’t dare to go anywhere because of the police. It is 2020 and people who haven’t done anything wrong - the family is more cautious than most because one of them has asthma - are afraid of the authorities.
The officer asks me again where I'm from, but this time which country. "Holanda," I say. "And you are going to Polopos? Are you from that TV program? ” "I am the winner of that program," I say from behind my mask. Normally I am not so boastful, but the Guardia Civil has a reputation of being hardhearted and I hope that this will loosen the officer a bit and get me back on track. And it works! We chat a bit about the art route that we want to organize annually but will probably be canceled and about our B&B that is now closed. Then I can drive on, up the mountain again and into the clouds.
In the future
That's where I'm writing now. In Polopos. Stuck in the clouds. Sightless, literally and figuratively. The Spanish government is seriously considering keeping hotels, restaurants and cafes closed until Christmas. Tourism in Spain accounts for twelve percent of the total economy and thirteen percent of employment. I suspect those figures are even higher in Andalusia. Spain as a holiday country moreover is a summer holiday country. Staying closed until Christmas means you won't be able to earn anything until Easter next year. Provided you are still in business...
It is a terrible dilemma, but we will have to start thinking about whether the cure is not worse than the disease. This is not just a healthcare issue. A human life cannot be expressed in terms of money, of course, but the costs also are more than an economic calculation.
People who live alone become depressed. Those who get infected have to fight a lonely fight. Those who don't make it die alone. We are in danger of becoming a police state. Businesses will fall over. People will get fired. Unemployment in Spain was already high. Is this not going to cause other diseases? Is this not going to cause social unrest? Rising suicide rates? Who can tell.
The lock down in Spain was necessary because the response of the Spanish government was too late too little. The peak is now behind us. If it stabilizes further, I believe more in a Swedish approach than to continue like we have. That means allowing economic activity again, including hotels and restaurants and bars, but no major events and concerts. It means keeping infected people in quarantine and urging the elderly and the vulnerable to stay at home as much as possible. We should probably keep the borders closed initially, so we will only have national tourism. This way you don't destroy your economy, while hospitals don't get overcrowded. With the money from the European emergency fund, extra investments can be made in healthcare.
The previous paragraph is off the cuff. There are undoubtedly a lot of ‘ifs and buts’, but I hope the government also thinks of this scenario. Because sooner or later the sun will shine again and if the Spanish government does not come up with a better solution than "keep everything closed", then "Polopos is stuck in the clouds", will become "Polopos is stuck". And that does not only apply to Polopos, but the whole of Spain.
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