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22

Both the Spanish army and police blocked all roads leading into and
out of these towns; going against this new order was impossible.

 

Leaving one’s house had to be justified by going to either

the supermarket, pharmacy, hospital, or taking out the trash.
Dog owners, however, were granted one more freedom than the
rest of us: dog walks. Never had | wanted to own a dog so bad,
nor had | ever been so pleased to simply take out the garbage. |
never did get a dog, and perhaps that is a good thing; according
to a study by the Environmental Research Journal, Spain-
residing dog owners were found to increase their
chances of contracting COVID by 78 percent.
These restrictions transformed Vic: once a
medieval town alive with social events,
religious festivals, and street markets, Vic
was quickly turned into an authority-
administered ghost town. The
gothic aesthetic of Vic added
perfectly to the emptiness.
Oddly enough, despite the
region’s extremist response
to COVID, and Vic’s
compliance, the city
currently has the highest
amount of active cases
in all of Catalonia.
Springtime was
a while ago, so how
have the restrictions
in Catalonia
evolved? While
their lockdown
measures have
lessened, those
residing in this
region are subject
to daily and
weekly curfews.
In an online
interview with
the Other Press,
Barcelona resident
Paula Silvia Zeppa
Sanchez explains,
“from Monday to
Thursday we can’t leave
Catalonia, and from
Friday 6 am to Monday 6
am we can’t leave the city
we are living in. Apart from
that we have a curfew from 10
pm to 6 am.” On the bright side,
many of the services that were
previously closed—such as bars,
restaurants, non-essential shops, and
public spaces like beaches and parks—are
now open.
“\Ne are able to go to parks and the
beach, but we have recommendations for what
to do—like avoiding crowded places. So, if it’s quite
full, it is better to avoid it. At the beach we have [...] to
leave two meters between towels [...] we can only take the mask
off when we are taking in the sun or in the sea,” said Zeppa
Sanchez. She elaborates on the facemask mandate in saying that
“face masks are mandatory everywhere 24/7. Spain is the only
country in Europe which has mandatory facemask for everything,
everywhere. Every time you leave your house, facemask on—no
exceptions.”

The new bar and restaurant mandates in Spain are similar to
those which we are currently experiencing in Vancouver. When
asked about these gastronomical spots, Zeppa Sanchez tells the
Other Press: “They are open, but they are not operating as usual.

Illustration by Athena Little

Bars and restaurants are not in full capacity [...] [instead they are
at] 30 percent and no more than four to six people at one table.”
She tells us that their hours of operation have also changed.
“Normally bars and restaurants close at midnight, but now they
close at ten and people can get there at maximum by nine.”

The current Catalonia mandates seem to be similar to
what we are facing in British Columbia during this time, but our
numbers, however, vary a bit from theirs. On December 5, British
Columbia reported 6,352 active cases whereas Catalonia reported
8,745 on December 4. While the two provinces’ populations are
similar—with BC having 5,071 million inhabitants, and Catalan
having only two and a half million more at 7,566—the area of
British Columbia trumps that of Catalan: 944,735 km2 versus
32,108 km2. While this area is not proportionately shared
between British Columbians as most of us are clustered into towns
and cities, Catalonians not only have more active cases, but one
could argue that their social culture seems to invite the spreading
of the virus. In no way am | condemning them—this component
of Spanish life is one thing that initially enticed me to study there.
It is understandable that a culture that is highly social—both with
everyday happenings but also with large-scale celebrations—
would cause the virus to spread at a faster rate. What is more
effective in curbing the spread of the virus though, propagating it,
or an entire culture’s collective intention to prevent it?

Catalan culture differs from individualist Canadian culture in
that much time is spent with others. Siestas are real; the average
person gets a multi-hour lunch break which is often spent sharing
food and wine with friends and family. In the month leading up to
the initial outbreak, carnivals occurred throughout the region. The
week long sitges carnival, multi-day La Mercé festival, Festes de
Santa Eulalia, Sant Medir, the Women’s Day march, and numerous
large-scale film festivals all took place in the weeks prior to the
initial lockdown. Not to mention it was football (soccer) season.
Mass crowds not only gathered in Camp Nou—a stadium with
double the capacity of BC Place—but prior to (and following) each
game, blocks surrounding the stadium were engulfed in football
fans. These sorts of large-scale events seldom happen within
British Columbia, not to mention that our society is much more
individualistic, which one might think would decrease the spread
of the virus in terms of person-to-person contraction.

One can say that our restrictions being almost synonymous
with those in an area affected much worse—and whose social
culture differs so greatly from ours—is uncalled for. The virus has
been shown to “spread from an infected person to others through
respiratory droplets and aerosols created when an infected person
coughs, sneezes, sings, shouts, or talks.” Due to this transmission
mode, it would make sense that the virus would spread quicker in
collectivist cultures. It has been found, however, that the mindsets
pertaining to these sorts of cultures have aided in engaging in
practices meant to curb the spread this virus, since collectivism
“places more emphasis on in-group vigilance [...] and may
contribute to people’s intention to prevent COVID-19.”

Western countries are often labelled as individualist cultures,
whereas Eastern countries are commonly classified as collectivist;
Spain—despite being located in the West, is an outlier to these
labels. The definitions of these terms are not limited to describing
how individuals spend their time socially—they also cover how
a population perceives and cares for others. The East (especially
Asian countries) have seemed to beat COVID at a higher rate;
what does that mean for us Westerners? Are our restrictions as
absurd as they seem—contradictions aside? Will our individualistic
mindsets betray us?

No one knows what the future holds, but one thing that
we do know is that we want things to return how they were
previously. This quote by Sanchez describes the drastic change in
her country, and this feeling also resonates in Canada: “In Spain
we greet each other with kisses, that has changed—no one gives
kisses now, we just do the elbow touch or nothing.”