Official reminders about how to behave. Banning some festivities but preparing for others.

We received a letter from the local council yesterday, asking for our “continued support in tackling the Coronavirus pandemic in Oldham”. I was expecting such a letter since a friend had told me she had had one the previous day. As she lives marginally closer to the areas of the town with the most cases, I wondered if they had given priority to certain parts of town. And we are right on the edge, with a good deal of access to open country. A few miles up the road it’s already Yorkshire.

The town is desperately trying to avoid a return to an even stricter lockdown which would lead to further economic problems and very probably increased racial tension. And so we are reminded that:-

• You cannot meet people from other households in your home or garden. 
• You cannot visit someone else’s home or garden, even if they live outside of the affected area. 
• You can only go to pubs, bats and restaurants with people you live with or your support bubble. 
• And so on and so forth.

I hear that it’s hard to make people stick to the rules. Examples of people ignoring the advice abound. If it were not so depressing to have continual rain, you could almost wish for bad weather to deter people from going and sitting in pub gardens. 

Meanwhile, faced with rising numbers of cases, in Germany they are thinking of banning the carnival season which begins on 11 November, and whose highlights are huge parades held the week before Ash Wednesday, marking the start of lent.

“The states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rheinland Pfalz are home to the biggest celebrations, including costume balls and fancy dress parades during which thousands of tonnes of sweets are thrown into the crowds and large amounts of alcohol are consumed.

The city of Cologne hosts the largest events, attracting hundreds of thousands of revellers from around the world. Carnival committees in communities across the country spend months planning the festivities, which typically have a subversive character. Motorised floats heavily satirise political developments taking place at home and abroad.”

You can see why they expect some kind of backlash protest; some local economies will be very hard hit. Schools and old people’s home will be able to organise their own fancy dress event if they wish but big events involving masses of people on the streets will probably not go ahead.

As the head of the Bundestag’s health committee, Erwin Rüddel, a self-confessed carnivalist, said, “We have enough evidence that physical distancing and alcohol are not compatible.”

Indeed!

In contrast, I read that Malaga and Vigo are already putting up Christmas lights. I thought I had misread that but then I remembered my amazement in previous years on seeing the teams busy out at work in the streets of Vigo hanging Christmas decorations across just about all the streets. Over the last few years in the run-up to Christmas people have arrived in Vigo by the busload, all planning to stroll around the streets oohing and aahing at the wonderful display which Mayor Abel Caballero says will be better than New York’s this year. Some even come for the weekend and for short city breaks, so enamoured are they of the bright lights.

Mayor Caballero plans to spend €800,000 on Christmas decorations this year. The work has started early because all the Covid restrictions are slowing things down and he wants to be sure of all being ready. He is pretty confident thought that the pandemic will not keep the tourists away, insisting that protective measures will be in place. “Our Christmas will be exceptional, beautiful … but 100% Covid secure.”

He’s still working on getting a Ferris wheel. “I want a Ferris wheel for Christmas and I’m not ruling out a permanent one to compete with the London Eye,” he said.

And I am trying hard to visualise quite where he could put a Ferris wheel. Somewhere down near the port/marina where all the expensive yachts are moored, overshadowing the horrible A Laxe shopping centre? Surely not on Plaza de Compostela? A sure way to ruin a beautiful alameda!

We shall see! Or maybe not as we still do not know when we will next be able to travel to Galicia. The very idea of getting on a local bus is not top of my list of things-I-must-do-again-soon, let alone getting on a plane. 

Ah well, it’s another fine, if rather windy, day. We’ll continue with our socially-distanced walks for the time being.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone.