"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! 

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Repel all boarders!