My PA Morcilla loves sitting on my shoulder while I sit at my desk “pretending” to work. And she makes sure that we don’t start netflixing until at least 7 pm. 😉
Truth is, I am working. Just not getting paid for it atm, so in that sense it’s kind of pretend work. I keep updating Sevilla Tapas, and my various social media accounts. I’m staying in touch with people in the biz and am working on getting a couple of new projects started. And I’m helping out my many friends with tapas bars by promoting them as much as possible.
Frankly, I’m worried about losing my home (don’t tell the cats!) since my landlord has not made any offer to lower my rent. The thought of moving (where?? how??) is too stressful to even consider at the moment. I see so many FOR RENT signs up in my street and around town, that have been up for months. You’d think my landlord would prefer to lower my rent than end up with an empty apartment for six months, or maybe longer. But all he has said to me is that if I want to move then that’s fine with him.Nice, huh?
Thing is, moving for me isn’t just an inconvenience. It rips me apart, because for me my home is my refuge and I really work hard to make each place I live in feel like that. In the case of the present Casa Azahar, it took almost a year after moving in before things were set up “just so” and I really felt at home. Okay, there are a few changes I’d still like to make, but present circumstances prevent that. But it’s actually the place I have felt the most at home in my 27 years in Sevilla. The thought of having to leave this home… honestly I can’t even think about it. It’s just too upsetting.
So I don’t know. Each day is another day. And starting today I am going to begin with self-isolation again. Our Covid numbers in Sevilla and Andalucía are WAY UP THERE, and with Madrid and Granada now shut down, it seems we will be next. But you know, I thought I’d get ahead of the game and shut myself down to stay safe, because for sure once our government gets around to doing this it will already be at least a week or two too late.
Today a friend told me his brother may be dying of Covid in the UK. And another friend in Sevilla has told me they had to shut down their bar because one of the staff has tested positive. These are my first “first hand” experiences, from friends who are suffering through this personally. They are not statistics. They are my friends.
And while shut downs are not the answer for many reasons, until we have a proper testing and tracking system in place, what other option do we have? And seriously, don’t get me started on the “herd immunity” idiots who don’t care who else dies because they want their old lives back.
What are we going to do? My cancer training has me just focusing on the day to day stuff… but I really want to do more. Don’t you? Also, we need to stop thinking about GETTING OUR OLD LIVES BACK. Because that just isn’t going to happen, esp since our old lifestyles were in part what created the situation that we find ourselves in now. And so, now what?
casa azahar 
I can imagine the stress you are under. I know how much your home (both the sense of “home” and your actual home) means to you.
I hope that you get resolution.
I am VERY lucky in that I live in co-operative housing where even under normal circumstances, rents are below the normal market value for commercial rentals and most private rentals. And, because co-operative housing falls under the federal Central Mortgage and Housing regulations, co-ops are required to offer members subsidy if they are low-income, lose their jobs, become ill, etc… and the subsidy is paid by the government. Members pay a portion if their housing charge (rent) based on their income, and the government pays the rest.
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Apparently Spain has close to a billion euros of unspent Coronavirus relief funds from the EU. They could spend some of that on people left without work or resources.
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Oh I’m so sorry to hear that… I can sympathise on one part of it, as believe it or not during the summer my landlord actually RAISED MY RENT. It’s all but impossible to move right now, and they know they got you by the throat. It’s absolutely infuriating to say the least. Sadly I know too many people who have/have had COVID, including a few who have become “long haulers” with ugly symptoms now running into their 3rd or 4th month. Plus have added a few graves of friends I need to visit once we can travel… But sending my best out there to you, stay safe — and sane.
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A friend told me the other day that the landlord he rents restaurant space from raised the rent so much that he had to let it go and now just has the tapas bar section, which belongs to him. Have noticed a lot of “get rich quick” mentality since lockdown, which strikes me as beyond greedy. It’s actually quite evil.
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In 2008 when my old place was doing perfectly well, we got nailed when Lehman went under. Overnight our business dropped 60%, as did most of NYC. Most places started to re-negotiate rents with landlords, and most of my colleagues got rent cuts. My own apartment rent was cut by 15%. But my restaurant’s landlord REFUSED to negotiate, and started to threaten. Not the owners/operators, but our staff, like our hostess. This is the kind of pissy shitty game landlords play.
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