The Rise in Coronavirus Cases in Spain’s Madrid causes panic among residents on the Costa del Sol and the Costa Blanca

THE recent sharp rise in Covid-19 cases in Madrid is causing great concern amongst the residents across the Costa Blanca and the Costa del Sol in Spain with some panicking to leave for the UK as soon as it’s possible.

Spain’s capital Madrid has reported a huge spike in coronavirus cases over the last few days and there are genuine concerns that a predicated second wave is already spreading through the city.

The Spanish health minister resisted attempts earlier in the month to allow Madrid to enter Phase 1 of the emergency lockdown, it now seems the reservations were completely justified. Hospitals in Madrid that were “winding down” thinking the panic was over have suddenly reverted back to “action stations” as new cases are flooding back in, there are real concerns that this is the first sign of a dreaded second wave of the virus.

Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram social media sites are burgeoned with posts from mainly expats who are now actually really worried and want to go back to stay with family and friends in the UK and don’t care about the quarantine period, after all, where are they going to go?

Pauline Nichols, 47, a British expat living and working in Madrid, is an English teacher who works at a private International College in the centre of the capital. She posted:

“OMG, I’ve just read the news, I was only speaking with my mum yesterday about her visiting me and now I’ve just called her to ask if I can stay with her in the UK until this blows over. Personally, I took a wage cut from the college of 20 per cent to stay, which I accepted, after all, what else could I do? Parents were pulling students out as there were only online lessons available and refused to pay the monthly fees, which is fair enough I suppose.

“The worst thing was that I couldn’t see my friends, the riots were frightening and mum rang me to say she had seen them on the EWN website and begged me to come back home – but said i was fine and they would go away, which they did thank god!

“Things changed though, even I don’t feel safe now, my friends from the college are scared too, we all thought it was over and that before we knew it we would be in the bar having a laugh and a drink and forgetting the nightmare ever happened. As soon as I can get a flight, I’m gone, not forever, just until September, when the college reopens. It’s ok people saying that I shouldn’t worry, and “don’t panic” but I’m on my own and I’m scared. I love Spain and I love my job but it’s just not worth the risk at the moment and most of my friends think the same.”

These comments are being echoed across both regions in Spain, expats and Spanish nationals alike are extremely worried about the events unfolding in Madrid, people are asking if the decision to allow the capital to move into the next phase was correct and what is in store for the other regions as they move into their phases of de-escalation, what happens when UK holidaymakers start to come back here?

Too many questions to answer, nobody really knows, is it a one-off, will that happen to us on the Costa del Sol from Monday, and will the same thing be repeated on the Costa Blanca? Only time will tell. TW