It turns out that you can get a Covid test in Sevilla at any private clinic / lab. It costs between 50-70€ and you get the results in five hours. Question. Why doesn’t our government set up a booth at the airport so arriving UNTESTED tourists can be tested and, by the time they have settled into their hotels, they will know if they are carriers or not and if they need to quarantine? Why is the focus on tourists getting tested after they get home again?

The temperature taking thing is a farce since many infectious carriers are actually asymptomatic, and people can have slight fevers for various other reasons. I mean, wouldn’t it be awful to be refused entry on a plane because you were having your period and had a slightly elevated body temperature than normal? Also, those laser point at your forehead thermometres are not the most accurate. But as it seems to be the only thing our governments can offer then it is given more importance than it actually deserves. Oh, they also say they will do a “visual check” to see if someone looks sick. DUH.

Also, people having to fill out forms asking if they feel sick… WTF? Betting that many folk with a slight fever and feeling a bit off would absolutely LIE on that form so as to not lose their holiday. As for the new UK rule that people returning from INFECTIOUS COUNTRIES such as Spain need to quarantine for 14 days… where is the follow through on that? A quick phone call? “Hello, just checking, are you staying at home?” “Uh… yeah… I mean YES of course I am, thanks for calling”. Stupid beyond belief.

It seems that no matter what the Covidiots are determined to HAVE THEIR HOLIDAY ABROAD, regardless of that pesky global pandemic that they seem to take as a personal affront rather than a… GLOBAL PANDEMIC. Yesterday I read about a cruise ship in Norway that has registered several Covid cases and I thought… who the fucking hell is still going on cruises???

But I feel the same about anyone travelling abroad. Why the actual fuck would you risk going abroad right now? Yes, I’m talking to YOU. Is it because you feel entitled to your annual holiday? Or because lockdown has been so hard on your snowflake self and you really need to get away? Or maybe it’s not a “holiday” it’s a (fill in the blank) that makes you sound even more entitled than the entitled holidaying assholes, because your made up excuse somehow matters more than, oh, all those people who couldn’t even say goodbye to dying loved ones or bury their dead in person. In their own town. Or maybe it’s because you haven’t seen your family and friends that live abroad in months? Get in fucking line like everyone else. Because it’s a FUCKING GLOBAL PANDEMIC.

This is what I don’t understand. The people who willfully refuse to accept what is actually happening. In front of their own eyes. Do they think governments would shut down entire countries on a whim? Because it’s you know, just like the flu? Every action that has been taken in every country happened at least a good two weeks later than they should have happened, and other subsequent restrictions were also slow in being implemented. And, depending on the country, the people mostly accepted the lockdowns, etc and adapted, though slower to embrace things like wearing masks in countries that even now have yet to make it mandatory.

All of these “new normal” norms were always going to be a challenge after lockdown was lifted here late June, but I could almost see how we would slowly get back into the rhythm of things, bit by bit. There was hope. But then the government immediately reopened the borders for tourists. Because apparently we need tourists more than we need to protect the people who live here. Of course I understand that we need to get the economy moving again and, unfortunately for Spain, and especially Andalucía, for the past 20-30 years the governments have been putting most of their GNP eggs into the Tourism basket rather than build up other, more tangible, industries. So tourists it was.

I honestly don’t know where this leaves us. But somehow things feel even more hopeless than when we were all stuck in our homes during lockdown. Because four months on there is still no plan. No testing, track and trace system happening. New cases, outbreaks and deaths are being reported daily throughout Spain. And yet, far from not even reacting with localised lockdowns, we are still letting in tourists without demanding that they be tested first.

The whole “hey, let’s go to Spain because they have fewer Covid cases than we do here” thing is so appallingly selfish. Many get tested after they go home again to see if they’ve ‘dodged that bullet’, seemingly without a thought for all the people they may have infected while on holiday. How is that even remotely justifiable? How can they care so little about anyone but themselves? Bet if they tested positive they would blame us and not even consider the option that they were infectious before they came here.

Okay, that’s all the frustrated and tear-inducing ranting I have for today. I dunno, it feels like all this ranting is going somewhere, at least for me, though I’m not sure where yet, or to what purpose. The main frustration is not knowing what I can DO in the midst of all this. Being inactive does not suit me, but my next steps have to be taken in the real “New Now”, not in a nostalgic wishful-thinking ‘want my old life back’ one. To be honest, having to reinvent myself once again at 63 1/2 years old feels pretty daunting. But I’m hoping this old girl still has something to offer.