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Wednesday, April 29, 2020

LOCKDOWN CASTELLDEFELS - DAY 44 – Tuesday, 28th APRIL



It comes to something that the sight of a man in late middle age walking down the middle of the street on a mobile phone is something to feel riled about.  Without kids or dog or shopping basket, he was a prime example of someone doing just what the hell he liked – even if his misdemeanour was a simple unaccompanied walk.  This is not a luxury the over 14s can enjoy until the weekend.  Perhaps.
     I felt a distinct urge to “denounce”; the itch to feel the pleasure of condemning someone not doing what I’m doing, a touch of the retired major of Tonbridge Wells expressing outrage!  But, who would I tell?  Better to have a quick grumble and get it over with!
     In spite of the Plague Kids being allowed out and about there has been no discernable increase in human (and child) freedom in our small world.  The greatest concentration of Plague Kids is two pools away from us in houses nearer the sea and there are extensive grounds around their pool, but the kids do not appear to be playing there.  Perhaps they are totally in thrall to their small screens and the ‘outside’ has few charms to tempt them!  Or perhaps they are all walking their regulated hour a day along the paseo, or walking on the beach?  Who knows?  We are not scheduled for a shop visit for the next few days and so there will be no way to check on how the regulations are being followed.
     The next relaxation is supposed to be for adults, but to my way of looking, the government here in Spain is trying to have its cake and eat it.  The regions, especially The Basque Country and Catalonia are arguing for their own series of regulations, but the national government is saying that they want a national plan but for it to be implemented asymmetrically and gradually, with it therefore being different in the different regions.  Is this just a case of semantics, or is it a real policy?  As with so much during this crisis, it is a matter of waiting to see how theory works out in practice; but there must also be a recognition that time is also a killer.  If the policy is wrong, then in a fortnight’s time we will see a spike in deaths: mistakes will kill.

In Britain, a friend has written that she is keeping a diary of the idiocies of the government in their approach to the crisis.  I hope that everyone is remembering the deadly mistakes that the Conservative government made as, in a Public Inquiry everyone is able to submit an input and have it officially noted, and this government MUST be held to account.
     I am aware, but can barely understand, that the present government has fairly high satisfaction ratings and that the Blond Buffoon also has high approval ratings.  This is not only deluded but also dangerous.  Under no circumstances should we forget that not only do we have a miss-managed Covid-19 crisis, but also we have the very real threat of a no-deal Brexit: a double-whammy that only the right-wing trash that rules us could put together.  And think that they could get away with.  And they will, unless we are particular, and insistent.


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