Galway native’s story of dealing with Covid-19 emergency in Spain

A Galway woman living in Spain has painted a picture of how a true lockdown would look like if introduced in Ireland.

Iseult Harrington from Menlo has been confined to her third-floor apartment in a suburb of Valencia since last Saturday night with her seven-year-old daughter Ana Rosa.

Streets are patrolled with a heavy police presence to ensure that people remain indoors. Fines of between €500 and €3,000 have been levied on those caught breaking the emergency laws, with jail terms threatened for persistent flouting.

A pass is given to dog owners to walk their pets outside, but they must remain within two streets of their home.

A father out walking his child in a buggy was hit with a substantial fine when his protests of needing fresh air fell on deaf ears.

“You have to show your ID and justify why you are outside and where you are going. Only one person can go out to the pharmacy if they have a prescription or to the supermarket for groceries, which means I would have to leave my daughter at home alone,” she said.

“You can’t have more than one person in a car – people with split custody have to bring their divorce papers with them to prove they have a reason for travelling.

“Only two people at a time are allowed into the supermarket and from what I’m hearing there are two-hour queues to get inside. Once there, so many things are gone. There’s no meat at all. There are no oranges – this is Spain, we always have oranges.”

She had started buying some extra supplies over the past three weeks, so has not ventured outside so far.

Locals in Valencia only fully grasped the seriousness of the situation on the cancellation of their annual Fallas Festival, which attracts over one million people to the streets with a mix of fireworks, fire displays and elaborate costumes.

A freelance translator, Iseult is used to working from home but is unsure if the work will continue to be sent her way.

Others who find themselves without a wage are improvising.

“I know of one woman who switched her exercise class to online so that people can keep exercising at home and she can keep earning some money.”

Iseult advised people in Ireland to stock up on goods that they would need if they were stranded in a cabin for a month – sanitary towels, hair dye, comfort snacks to keep up spirits, cooking oil and dried goods and cans – and options for light entertainment such as board games and cards.

“I was guilty of complacency myself in the beginning – there was a lack of cohesion in policy. But I feel very reassured here now. I think it’s the only way.

“It’s shocking to see what’s happening in the UK and in Ireland – that people coming back from Cheltenham [Race Festival] were not forced into quarantine. I think that’s a ticking timebomb.

“It’s shocking to see how the numbers have grown here in Valencia – we had 40 cases, it’s now 500. Spain had 1,000 cases a week ago and it’s shot up to 11,000 – Italy have reached 21,000 and we’re second behind them so it is going to get a lot worse.

“The festival which had a fireworks display every evening was bringing 15,000 people into the city for the last nine nights so that could have caused a lot of damage.”

Living in Spain for the past eleven years, Iseult said she loves her adopted home but returns every August to see her family in Galway.

Speaking by phone on St Patrick’s Day, she said she is grateful for the small things.

She has a balcony that she and her daughter can enjoy some fresh air and light. It’s from here that she joins other Spaniards every evening at 8pm to honour those working in hospitals, supermarkets and pharmacies by banging pots and pans and singing aloud.

They have been told that the lockdown is likely to last a month at least.

“I have a good network, people I can talk to here and in Madrid. My daughter has been much better than I expected. She’s not anxious but is beginning to feel the lack of contact and the lack of exercise. But we’re getting used to it.”