Diary of Spain in Lockdown - new timetable for going outside

1^st May – New timetable for going outside, but what about the 14-year-olds??

From tomorrow the lockdown will be eased. A bit. We still won’t be able to move about as much as people in the UK have, but we’ll have more freedom than now. And for those living in city centre apartment blocks this must be a Godsend.

There is a ’clearly’ set out timetable for when each group of people can venture out of their homes, but in amongst all the explanations I can’t for the life of me fathom whether my 14-year-old counts as a child who needs to be accompanied by an adult or whether she’s classed as a grown-up in her own right who can then carry out errands to the supermarket and the pharmacy. And if she is still counted as a minor, does that mean her 15-year-old sister can take her for a walk?

The government has tried to minimize the risk of infection by stopping different groups mixing and has set up a schedule so that over 70s have a morning and evening slot, as do sporty people. Then between 12 and 7pm the ‘under 14s’ can go out with their parents, but just the one parent, mind.

As usual during this confinement it won’t make much difference to us here in our l’Eliana bubble. We’ll go out into the garden, maybe to the pool or perhaps our usual walk around the block with the dogs. In fact I’m starting to think I’m becoming a bit agoraphobic, as going across the road to the bins seems like a big adventure. It’s strange now to think that every summer we normally cross France on our way to England. It seems like another world.