New Covid-19 cases in the Valencian Community are the highest in Spain, according to the local newspaper. They are higher even than in Madrid! Alicante province, where we live, is one of three provinces in the larger Valencian Community. The other two are Castellón and Valencia. I am not going to share specific case numbers here but suffice it to say they are so high that you cannot visit anybody, the regional government has closed all bars and restaurants and shut down borders between cities within the province on the weekends. Before you could not leave the Valencian Community. Now you can’t leave or enter a town on the weekends if it has 50,000 people or more.
I am listening to The Splendid and the Vile right now on Audible. Written by Erik Larson, the book is about Winston Churchill’s inspirational leadership of England as Britain’s Prime Minister during WWII. I am about half way done and German air planes keep bombing England and expecting the country to surrender. British people were living in a constant state of dread then, waiting for the next bombs to drop. And now we are also living in a constant state of dread, not knowing who will get the virus and who will survive it or die alone, without family around to comfort them.
It really does feel like we are in a war now, one against an unseen virus that has sickened more than 100,000,000 people and killed over 2,240,000. Plus it keeps mutating into more contagious strains. These strains have so far been discovered in the UK, Brazil and South Africa. Who knows, maybe tomorrow another new strain will be discovered somewhere that is resistant to all the vaccines developed so far. If you aren’t frightened right now, I suspect you aren’t paying attention to the news.
Just like during wartime, many widows and orphans are being created by the countless Covid-19 deaths. This is a post about that topic that I read on Twitter this morning.
Like wartime, we need to hunker down into our hidey holes and wait for the reinforcements of vaccines to arrive. In the meantime, let’s all hope and pray that the pandemic ends before life as we knew it becomes just a distant memory.
US Author Nancy Klein in Spain 
Today the numbers are much lower for Valencia. The effort was not in vain. We will get back to travel in the future, we just don’t know when. This has been hard on everyone. Grateful to share the hardship with you. Hubby
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Nancy, it’s interesting to read this post now, as we approach the one-year anniversary of Covid’s explosion on the world stage. Certainly, nothing like this has ever happened to us in our lives, and hopefully, not everything we learn from the experience will be bad. I suspect we’ll all have a new appreciation for family time together, hugs, and the freedom to travel. Take care of yourself. ~James
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Hi James. Yes, I think all of us will be so grateful to travel and hug family members again after so long apart! You take care too!
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We also read Portugal is a mess as well. Has Spain closed down the borders and still allowing flights into the country?
We canceled our 3-week trip last month to check out Valencia and Alicante area for relocation. Which was supposed to start on January 30th. We are glad we did.
Stay safe and away from people!
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I don’t know if flights have been canceled but borders are definitely closed between provinces and between Portugal and Spain. Let me know when you come to Spain for possible relocation. We can meet up!
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That’s good they have closed down the borders. The land and sea borders are still closed here in Colombia since March. There is air travel domestically and select International countries. We are finally looking at a reduction in Covid cases and ICU occupancy reduction. We do have nighttime curfews but everything is pretty much open with greatly reduced capacity. Colombia is scheduled to roll out the vaccines this month with a target of 70% of the population receiving them by November.
Thanks for your offer of meeting up. We would love that. Where are you based out of?
Cheers!
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Both Valencia and Alicante are nice cities based on our visits and stays there.
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Glad to hear that. That is the area we are targeting. We want to be close to the ocean again. It’s been too long. We had to cancel last April the first time and again this month. Hopefully, the third time will be the charm.
BTW, the Splendid and the Vile is a great book. Have you read Eric’s book The Devil In The White City? It is our favorite of his books.
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Yes, I read Devil in White City some time ago and enjoyed it very much. My hubby and I are both from Chicago, where the story takes place. We live about 50 minutes south of Alicante airport, in a neighborhood just south of Torrevieja. It’s really nice here. Sunny weather and low cost of living. We can see the Mediterranean Sea from our bedroom. 😎
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Yes, Andrew. Times are tough. But we all need to hold onto hope that it will get better someday!
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These are bad times indeed. I can’t wait to get back to Spain but it won’t be any time soon.
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