"Repel all boarders!"

Evoking 1740 in Gran Tarajal on a
pre-Covid anniversary

Or should the theme be, perhaps, "borders", as late January has been a time of dealing with issues of the right to be here and "good" and "bad" citizenship?

Most significant for Greyrocks was the trip to Puerto del Rosario to apply for our TIEs. Thanks to Brexit (gritted teeth!) resident Brits in Spain are no longer entitled to EU status and should - in due course -  swap their green document or card for a special phot-ID "Third Country" card, looking like this specimen:

In theory there is no rush, but there was a flurry of wrong practice early in the year as residents without it were refused boarding on Spain-bound flights from UK - or even sent back from Barcelona!  Diplomacy resolved this and made clear the green things are acceptable, but we are risk-averse on the travel front, and furthermore we cannot open a new (and cheaper/better) bank account without them, so we got in touch with Lorraine - a recommended British "fixer" - and slotted into her upcoming appointment at the National Police station. In preparation we had to renew our evidence of being on the inhabitants' list at the local council offices.

Playa Chica, PdR

Engaging Lorraine involves an 8am rendezvous near the police station, so we decided to stay overnight. Our usual hotel is closed so we booked into another, and took the bus:- for the first time since March! That part was fine, and the hotel was fit for purpose. We took a walk along the seafront to the newly pedestrianised area  and had a tapas lunch in a place we know overlooking the "new" beach, looked in a few shops and were ready for the opening of El Bounty - a regular haunt for some years. Marco and Elena were effusive in their welcome and we had a lovely meal and took a carafe of wine back to the hotel, promising to return the empty next day.

We checked out early in the morning and did now return to the scene of the crime with more urgency as we had, by then,  discovered that Bob had left his bag with glasses and Kindle inside! There was no sign of life, so we took a taxi up the hill to meet Lorraine in a cafeteria. She was expecting two other couples. While we waited we had an animated chat about the pub she had once run in Oxford as she had spotted Ruth's place of birth in the notes we had sent. We later waited outside the police station and her close relationship with the staff inside and out was evident, and - we decided - worth the fee we had paid her as the whole process was over in a remarkably short time: compared to some painful occasions when we each needed documentation from there years ago! The worst part was a repeat of Ruth's  Indian fingerprint problems! In theory it would take forty days to produce our cards for collection, but we are told it will probably be a further twenty, so March it is for another visit!

We had to ring Marco and Elena in order for them to kindly come open up to locate the bag (hidden below a table so missed the night before), we visited the Chinese shop and walked up to the bus station, arriving at Corralejo port in time for lunch at La Lonja and the retrieval of Ruth's special mask, left there over the weekend. Two instances of senility!

With that out of the way Greyrocks turned attention to the other post-Brexit headache: how to legally have the hundred days in Paleochora  - and maybe a bit more before and after elsewhere in Greece - given the new Schengen rules and our status as non-EU citizens. We have been in touch with various consulates and it's not looking good! It's a 90 day limit unless we can do something very drastic - so "watch this space!"

Better news for us on the island in terms of Covid and everyday life! Every few days there is something in the press about an incident within our municipio  of flagrant rule-breaking, so "bad" numbers are always expected, but after the festive blip reported in the last post they have been slowly coming down.

This graph is one that Ruth would have regarded as "very naughty" if submitted as part of Statistics coursework, (what are those lines?, what is it all about?) but tells some good news.

The red line shows an infection rate over 7 days per 100 000 inhabitants of 50, regarded as "low risk".

January ends with a raised number of cases (11) in hospital - (none in ICU) -still only 4 deaths in total, and 113 active cases (including those in hospital). That makes us "Lucky Island" - but from our roof terrace - and just 20 minutes away on the ferry - one can see "Plague Island". 

In just a few weeks Lanzarote's situation has plummeted, so that a couple of days ago the 7-day IA rate was 363.78 per 100 000. The hospital is under severe pressure and staff are being drafted in from other islands. The authorities have had to devise a new band beyond the three traffic light colours. These are the restriction levels for each island as of 28th January. They are the same as those of the previous week.

So we remain in Amber:- in summary 11 pm curfew and table limit 4 people, with a realistic expectation of going down a level at the next review. Lanzarote is "closed". with only freight and some special cases of foot passengers coming off the ferries. Bad news for the bars and restaurants that serve day-trippers, but a relief for the rest of us! 

. 

Repel all boarders!

 

Exit Filomena - Enter Amber

 .

 

Second wave: worse??

The foul weather hung around for over a week, with the sun returning on Saturday. It was some of the worst that even the locals can remember, but nada de nada compared to that still being experienced on the Peninsula! The surfers were happy enough, but the mood amongst the rest of us was grim and often angry as we sat on terraces discussing the growing number of Covid cases on the island and particularly in our municipio. The finger was generally pointed at those parties:- the participants and/or the inadequate policing. Since the infamous New Years Eve debacle there has been a yet more defiant party on a beach near El Cotillo - allegedly by Italians, and a similar one on the beach on the approach to Corralejo involving 17 Brits. Nonetheless the island had escaped a move into the "red" state of alarm on the latest review. Another "Phew", but the word went out that the mayor had ruled that aspects of "redness" would apply in La Oliva- particularly no indoor food or drink service and a 10 pm curfew. 

(The first day barely affected Greyrocks as we spent most of the day enduring and then recovering from two very stressful. long and painful calls:- to UK NSI over their incompetence with phone numbers and to Vueling who still haven't refunded on four cancelled flights. This was so bad that a planned teetotal day was abandoned by early evening!)

On the second day we went for a walk and saw the evidence of the regulation regime. The lottery shop and amusement arcades were closed and outside bars the punters were huddled more numerously then usual. Glimpses inside showed tables and floor areas roughly taped off. We tried to think of places where being exiled would not be too cold and came up with a favourite:- El Patio Andaluz- which is indeed half open but roofed. We were welcomed and directed towards the outer tables, which worked well. Next day we were out for coffee and there was at least one group inside the cafeteria. We went into characteristically judgemental mode, but later discovered the mayor  had been ultra vires and so we are back in Amber mode and a lot of tape has been discarded!

This designation is up for review at the end of the month. Across the water Lanzarote is in Red and in theory "closed", although the ferries continue to run with not just essential freight but what appear to be day-trippers! Hold your breath! 

Greyrocks has observed that the age distribution in town of those clearly non-resident has become bimodal (Once a statistician always,,,!)  Surfers by the cartload (although the cheapest hostels are closed) and plenty of baby-boomers in various states of health, who are not resident but have found accommodation for long stays. We met some resident friends who manage villas and they told of a third significant cohort: the digital nomads. They are developing a reputation as "worse than surfers" for wrecking property!

Today however is bleak for all forms of tourism, as there are no international flight arrivals. Not so good on the infection statistics, either: today we stand at 164 active Covid cases, of which two are in hospital but not Intensive Care. Deaths still number 4.

We await our call to be vaccinated. Local policy is to move on to those over 65 after the current groups, and unlike in UK we will get both jabs.

"Navidades" triply cursed: Covid, Brexit and Filomena

Yesterday was the start of post-festive 2021 in Spain. The kids are back at school to some extent (except in Madrid!) and the authorities have been obliged to set out new regulations to replace those governing the Festive period and in force since 23rd December Just how Fuerteventura has come out of that process will follow, but here are some highlights and novelties in Greyrocks' 28th Canarian holiday period.

There were four of us here this time round - starting early as a result of Covid!  Chloë and Jack's stressful arrival and strange lifestyle for the two weeks before is described in a 2019 post. After Christmas they did a bit more holiday activity often revolving around food! We went with Elaine the hairdresser and Andrew to a Sunday Quiz at Hoplaco. All possible tables were occupied and the model used there is an established one, but it was our first time! It wasn't perfect in level, scope or delivery, but we had fun and ended up in a separate one-team-at-a-time contest. We selected as a topic Hits of the Sixties and through a great team effort we won - a prize of EUR 50. There was also the prize of a bottle of wine for second (or was it third?) in the main quiz. Quids in! The public was amazed that we identified the Bonzo Dog Doo-dah Band!

A few days on and it was Round 3 of a Spanish Festive Season (which starts with the 6th/8th December "puente") Chloë and Jack took themselves off to Las Palmas for New Year. We booked a NYE dinner at Marquesina:- something we have done many times! It was almost the same as on all the other occasions except for greater spacing of tables and the waiters with masks. We decided to leave shortly before midnight and took our cotillóns  and walked along the promenade to home. This was just in case it was crowded in the Old Town. Little did we know! 

In all innocence we spent a quiet New Year's Day and - it being a Friday - we went to Retro for an evening of fish and chips and live 70's rock with Straight Ahead - a recently discovered and rare pleasure! The bar meticulously closed in order to meet the 1 am curfew. 

It was only two days later that the Canarian press was featuring Corralejo in the headlines. In the "Music Square" around midnight there had been mayhem - unmasked. up close, loud and not policed! The bars were closed and the authorised live music had finished. Reactions on social media were as dichotomous as expected, with our mayor saying the police had done a fine job by taking twenty minutes to mobilise from their base 200 m away! Others of us decided to give young people a wide berth for a couple of weeks!

Shortly thereafter it was announced that all live music would be banned for two weeks in the council district of La Oliva - main town Corralejo; and thus it has been an even less jolly time over the "final stretch" of Kings' Day. We rang Retro to cancel a table booking for 8th (by which time C and J would be back) and later realised they had closed anyway with this on Facebook.

But for Kings itself there had been plenty of time to prepare! The magi arrived on the ferry on the 5th as usual - but later in the day,  and were driven around town in separate sports cars. For meeting them spaced appointments were needed and we certainly weren't going to see that! In the virtual world they pulled out all the stops.

 This is the cyber-magi offering for our municipio

Covid impacted also on the departure of  Chloë and Jack. This was scheduled for 9th January, but the UK news was presaging testing on arrival. A sensible policy we thought - but details were few and far between! When would this start? Was the deadline based on departure or arrival? Which tests would be acceptable? Right up to the wire there was the possibility that it would be logistically impossible to be tested within 72  hours of some fixed point and yet get back a result of a PCR test performed in Corralejo. A flight change would have serious implications. Bodged plan, badly managed press releases, too little too late? Surely not from this UK government?! But they made it out as planned on one of the last flights that would not be included. We are once again empty-nesting!

And on the subject of Covid regulation chaos, we have our own - less significant - one here in our municipio of La Oliva. Up until yesterday our regime was due to be that of the whole island, and along with El Hierro and La Palma would be "green light" alert. (Tenerife is on "red" and Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and La Gomera on "amber"). But this came with a warning. In just three weeks the number of active cases had soared from around 35 to about 130. The number of deaths has remained at 4:- indicative, perhaps, of the young and fit population, but leading, perhaps, to some complacency!

Daily new cases on the island

So some relief that we were not perceived as all that "bad", and the detail - 4 rather than 6 at a table and a curfew of 11 versus 12 barely mattered to anti-social old codgers like ourselves, but yesterday Ruth met Pete the neighbour and he said  the restrictions were tighter, On investigation this was seen to be true:- the mayor  - out of deep concern or spite depending on your point of view - had declared exceptions for our municipio - as with the live music ban -  so we now have a ban on sitting anywhere inside at bars and restaurants. Now this might not "normally" be a great problem - we are after all a winter sun magnet - but God's Great Banana Skin has brought us Filomena to coincide! Greyrocks is just back from a lunch-out trip (wrapped up as never before on the island) and struggled to find a place with unoccupied tables on a windy terrace and some places just closed!

The reader in the UK will know this unwelcome visitor as "Beast from the East 2" and it may soon be with you! We have had it since 5th - arriving with the Kings - and it isn't funny!  It is a borrasca - a nasty squally seaborne storm system - that has been on its way from the North Atlantic. Yesterday the pharmacy display showed 17 degrees C in the middle of the day. The squalls are often short but intense and start without notice. A great shame for the kids over the Kings holiday, and for tourists seeking refuge from their home country! But we have been lucky:- the western islands had torrential rain, and the devastating snow on the peninsula - particularly around Madrid - has not been out of the media. At least we have snow only above 1900 metres - and there's not much of that!

Oh, and Greyrocks is wrestling with planning the summer as British passport holders post-Brexit!  That bit of the triple-whammy will have to wait. It's Bloody Cold

"Begone 2020!"

 A Happier New Year to our Reader!

The media this week has been full of "good riddance to the year", but for Greyrocks the first tears were shed at 11pm local time last night over a very nice pudding and some good white wine when we ceased to be citizens of the EU. Brexit has caused us more anger and despair than the pandemic, from which we have been largely insulated. Plenty of friends and some family have had a very rough time in UK as a result of preventive measures, but none have - as far as we know - had more than light symptoms if they did catch the virus. As ex-pats we look on, however,  at the state of society - particularly the growing inequality, insularity and intolerance, and it seems even worse than Greyrocks bemoaned at this time last year. (At least there has been no hospitalisation this year- just continuing physiotherapy, painful mostly to the wallet!) So - enough of that! 

What have we done and where have we been?

Covid has put a (we hope) temporary stop to the complicated migrations we have been effecting for thirteen years. Yvette has been resting in a barn near Girona Airport since October 2019. As is evident in the pie chart we have spent a much higher number of days in our Fuerteventura home than in any other year. This will take some explaining to HMRC!

It barely needs stating that there are worse places than this (or indeed Paleochora) in which to be stuck! The things which the pandemic has denied us are: most live music, dancing to any music, trips out by bus or ferry, going to some bars we regard as too crowded, menus and other accoutrements on restaurant tables, and recognising masked folk in the street! The only improvement to life has been the ban on smoking on terraces of bars and restaurants.

Who didn't make it?

Just a few folk who matter to Greyrocks popped their clogs this year:

John Le Carré: Probably the most significant of the set! We have relished every book and film or TV series based thereon

Diana Rigg: As Mrs Peel! and Ruth saw her in "Twelfth Night" at Stratford in her O Level year (a long time ago)

Sean Connery: What can you say?

Ian Holm: A fine actor who was on holiday at least once with his then-wife Penelope Wilton in good old Paleochora!

Barbara Windsor: Dodgy politics, some most unsavoury associates and "Carry On" films that got worse as the years wore on, but we have had many un-PC laughs!

Van Halen: We're not into rock that heavy, but some memorable stuff in the back-catalogue!

Kenny Rogers: Nor are we country fans, but for "ear worms" Islands in the Stream" is up there! 

Diego Maradona: Not football fans, either, but we ate at El Rincon a day or so after his death, where all staff (and meat) are Argentine. We had a brief interchange with the waiter we know:- there wasn't much we could say, but an Irish guest took over, was effusive and had his photo taken with the framed picture from the wall! 

Betty Wright: Greyrocks didn't know she had died until researching yesterday, but  her "Clean Up Woman" performance with Jools is joyous and led to this being Ruth's signature tune at The Nest in Palolem, Goa:- especially with the owners' two little boys!

Here it is: Cheer yourself up, Reader!