Tourists in and Greyrocks out!

La Provincia says first intake of tourists underwhelms

June comes to an end and Greyrocks is finally packing for the getaway! Casual observation over the ten days since rules were relaxed suggests that Corralejo is seeing a good flow of day-trippers from Lanzarote and other parts of our island, but they are not spending much money! On the other hand there seem to be visitors from the Peninsula and we have seen that the few hotels that are open have guests. Ruth's emergent ear for Spanish has recognised - she thinks - some Madrid and Andalucia accents.

This past weekend saw the first flights from the rest of Europe. A Wizz Air from Luton to Gran Can was the first that would have brought Brits directly to the Canaries. There are certainly now German and Dutch speaking holidaymakers in town in relatively small numbers. As semi-residents who have been on the island for a protracted period Greyrocks is not alone! Rumours have been doing the rounds about flights to UK which are then cancelled, and of the planes coming out empty.

Stunning views on Lobos

Hopes that worthy businesses will  be saved by July and August tourist numbers are tempered by fears that this will result in importation of the virus and ecological set-back. Within the last week numerous small craft or water-taxis have been doing the run over to the islet of Lobos, even though authorised tourist trips have not yet resumed, and the result is that it now resembles a vertedero (rubbish dump). Clearly not on the scale of Bournemouth beach on the South coast of England, but bad enough, and adds fuel to the debate about acceptable day-tripper numbers when the season is under way!


Our final couple of weeks have been dominated by sensible jobs, physio sessions and planning, but we have experienced some new things: Ruth has twice been to Rogues' Gallery to play Scrabble with Anne and Mel, just across the road we have a real find: - an Argentinian steak place to rival La Bolada which has not re-opened, and two other eateries: one an Andalucian tapas bar, and the other an Italian seafood bistro.

But now we are focused on a scary three days of travel. Whilst Greece is not accepting flights from UK our from Madrid should be fine, but we have had to complete online the new Greek PLF and have some concern that we may be tested in Athens owing to our age, meaning some sort of isolation.Three flights, airports, hotels... Watch this space!!