15 Nov, 2020 @ 13:30
2 mins read

Trump, COVID restrictions and Brexit – a view from Spain

Donald Trump
Donald Trump has been branded an 'idiot' in his poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic

By Anne Hernandez

IT’S certainly been a couple of weeks of twists and turns. First we had the US elections and Trump making a fool of himself with his public announcement that the votes were fraudulent and many TV channels cutting him off while in full flow!

I do wonder if he had won the votes he would have still stood by his claim that they were fraudulent! Rather like the UKIP group pre-Brexit referendum that if it was a close call they would demand another referendum. It was a close call but in their favour so they conveniently forgot about that threat!

Donald Trump
Donald Trump made a fool of himself

Then back here in Spain came the new COVID restrictions causing total mayhem for some who, strangely enough, do not seem to even have known in which municipio (municipality) they live!

I watched Juanma Moreno (President of Andalucia) making his announcement on Sunday then spent until gone 6am translating the official BOJA but it didn’t seem to reflect what he had said, so even I was confused.

The only crystal-clear restrictions are that we cannot travel outside of our own municipio or sit in a café/bar/restaurant beyond 6pm, when they must close.

It means virtual meetings again for us with our members – so don’t miss out on the info we give and which you can rely on as fact rather than be worried by the false rumours!

Moreno
Junta president Juanma Moreno – confusing message

Many of us are not convinced by these new rules but we are not the experts so must do whatever we can to curb the increase in reported cases and greater demand for hospital beds, and, since nobody seems to know yet how to effectively achieve that, we have no option than to support the different attempts.

However, the sensible proposal by Mijas/Fuengirola to the Junta to be treated as one municipio during these times has been rejected, despite some roads being shared, which means that if we cross from one side to the other we are in the next municipio and potentially likely to be fined!

Biden’s election has caused some concern for Boris Johnson. He seemed comfortably ensconced in Trump’s back pocket but Biden has voiced his opinion favouring the EU and claiming Brexit will be a disaster. So Johnson is likely to have a difficult task ahead of him to win him over. Time will tell but December 31 is getting ever closer and the UK has a lot of work to do before then to negotiate deals to replace those lost with the EU.

In anticipation of not being ready for whatever 2021 and Brexit might bring, despite saying it would not be necessary, the UK is busy creating a 66-acre lorry park in Kent giving 1,700 parking spaces but with less than seve weeks left, heavy rain has delayed work. Of course, I should add that it is being built on a flood plain!

The Gibraltar government has announced what Brexit could mean to visitors if there is no Gibraltar/EU agreement in place – not more than two kgs of meat, fish, seafood, pet food, milk, honey etc allowed into Spain – I can think of one supermarket there that might suffer!

Good news though that a vaccine could be on its way soon. The UK has ordered millions of doses but given that it has to be transported to the UK from the EU and maintained at minus 80°C it could be a problem. After all, the EU lorry drivers may not want to deliver to the UK if it means sitting in that lorry park for days in Kent and that’s just to get back out of the UK!

Time will tell I don’t doubt, but this is Brexit – the gift that takes away more than it gives!

Find out more at any of our six Brexpats in Spain Facebook groups, twitter or website.

Staff Reporter

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