This has been one of the craziest weeks of my life. On\nWednesday corona virus seemed like a whole world away, and I was confused by\nthe growing panic, but by midday on Thursday the whole of Spain had gone into\nmeltdown and I started to realise that it may be much more serious than I had\npreviously thought. The sudden chaos was apparent and one by one my friends had\nbooked their flights home, despite the rapidly increasing price of plane\ntickets, and when I realised that it was very likely that I could get stuck in\nmy flat in Spain for the foreseeable future I soon followed suit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Booking my flight for Sunday seemed like enough time to sort\neverything out and safely get back to England before any emergency travel bans\nwere put in place, but by Saturday the dread that I might not be able to leave\nwas very real. Granada had become a ghost town. People were suddenly wearing\nmasks and gloves, which made me think that we were on the verge of some sort of\nzombie apocalypse. The shops were basically empty and big plastic screens had\nbeen put up at shop counters to avoid any human contact. Fortunately my flight\nstill went ahead, albeit one and a half hours late, due to the shortage of\nstaff at air traffic control, and I was on my way to my home filled with the\nluxuries my Spanish flat lacked, like an oven, a tv and water that stays warm\nfor longer than 3 minutes! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since being back in England I have heard from friends still\nin Spain that no one is allowed to leave their house, except for getting food\nand emergencies, and people could receive a fine of a minimum of 100 euros if\nseen outside by the police with no good reason to be there. So it is fair to\nsay that I was lucky to get home when I did, and for the price I did, as many\nof my friends have had their flights cancelled just days before they were\nplanning to leave, others have had to fly via other cities such as Berlin and\nothers have had to pay around 500 euros for a 3 hour flight from Malaga to\nLondon!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spain\u2019s response seemed to go from 0 to 100 overnight, which\nI think was due to the unexpected severity of the virus. While the cases\ntripled over night in Madrid, people were still permitted to travel around\nSpain, causing the virus, which was predominately in the North, to travel around\nSpain and cause greater problems. Now Spain is in complete lockdown, with all\nuniversities and schools being shut. And while I am happy to be home, I am so\nsad to have had to leave Granada and to have my year abroad cut short in such a\nsudden way. I hope that I will be able to go back soon, not just to see friends\nand be back in 25 degree heat, but to bring my stuff home that I had to leave\nbehind in the panic!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This has been one of the craziest weeks of my life. On Wednesday corona virus seemed like a whole world away, and I was confused by the growing panic, but […]","protected":false},"author":1703,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[268],"tags":[489,71],"class_list":["post-4849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-europe","tag-coronavirus","tag-spain"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4QQbz-1gd","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2805,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/2805-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":4849,"position":0},"title":"Ser un j\u00f3ven en el Espa\u00f1a de hoy.","author":"Katie Elgie","date":"January 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Hola, buenas. Bienvenidos a mi primera \u00b4Routes into Languages blog\u00b4. I have been provided with the broad subject of \u00b4Being a young person in Spanish speaking society\u00b4. This year abroad so far has been incredibly fulfilling and has opened my eyes to the lifestyle and culture of another country; which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "European Placements"","block_context":{"text":"European Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2018\/01\/27046938_10215118661300383_1656202329_o-450x450.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2106,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/elpaisdequijote\/","url_meta":{"origin":4849,"position":1},"title":"A cultural\/historical snapshot of \u00abEl pa\u00eds de Quijote\u00bb","author":"Liam Barrett","date":"May 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a1Buenos d\u00edas! It\u2019s been a few months since I last wrote for LingoMap, and since then I have moved from Brussels in Belgium, to Ciudad Real in Spain. Firstly, I would like to apologise for my lateness in posting the April blog, I have been very busy handing in some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "European Placements"","block_context":{"text":"European Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/05\/FullSizeRender.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/05\/FullSizeRender.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/05\/FullSizeRender.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/05\/FullSizeRender.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4713,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/the-six-nations-in-spain\/","url_meta":{"origin":4849,"position":2},"title":"The six nations in Spain","author":"Alice Clifford","date":"March 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ll start with an obvious statement: Spain in February is much warmer and sunnier and by far dryer than the UK. So I feel like I can\u2019t possibly complain while every time I facetime my family or friends back home they are right in the middle of storm Dennis, or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "European Placements"","block_context":{"text":"European Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3143,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/staying-fit-and-healthy-in-spain\/","url_meta":{"origin":4849,"position":3},"title":"Staying Fit and Healthy in Spain","author":"Hannah Qunibi","date":"April 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a1Bienvenidos todos! Este semestre estoy en Espa\u00f1a en Ciudad Real, una ciudad que est\u00e1 cerca de Madrid. En este blog voy a hablar sobre el tema de la salud y el bienestar. Hay muchas cosas que son distintas aqu\u00ed en Espa\u00f1a en comparaci\u00f3n con las del Reino Unido, por ejemplo,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "European Placements"","block_context":{"text":"European Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2018\/04\/IMG_21701-450x338.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3302,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/an-a-z-of-the-best-food-and-drink-spain-has-to-offer\/","url_meta":{"origin":4849,"position":4},"title":"An A-Z of the Best Food and Drink Spain Has to Offer","author":"Hannah Qunibi","date":"May 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a1Bienvenidos todos! I\u2019m now over three months into my semester abroad here in Ciudad Real and I\u2019ve very much been enjoying everything Spain has to offer, especially the food! I love exploring all aspects of the Spanish culture, but as a foodie discovering all of the tasty delights Spain has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "European Placements"","block_context":{"text":"European Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2018\/05\/IMG_24561-e1525798183662-338x450.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2135,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/elparoenespana\/","url_meta":{"origin":4849,"position":5},"title":"Cuestiones sociales – El paro en Espa\u00f1a","author":"Liam Barrett","date":"May 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In this month's blog, I am going to talk about some of the social issues which have to be faced in the country in which I am currently living, so that would be Spain. Firstly,\u00a0a (una cuesti\u00f3n social)\u00a0social issue is a (un problema)\u00a0problem that influences a considerable number of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "European Placements"","block_context":{"text":"European Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Unemployment Rate in Spain compared to the UK and EU https:\/\/www.google.es\/publicdata\/explore?ds=z8o7pt6rd5uqa6_&ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=unemployment_rate&fdim_y=seasonality:sa&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=country_group&idim=country_group:eu:non-eu&idim=country:es:uk&ifdim=country_group&tstart=945385200000&tend=1487286000000&hl=en&dl=en&ind=false","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/05\/Overall-unemployment-spain-1024x584.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/05\/Overall-unemployment-spain-1024x584.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/05\/Overall-unemployment-spain-1024x584.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/05\/Overall-unemployment-spain-1024x584.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"meta_box":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1703"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4849"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4850,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4849\/revisions\/4850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}