Christmas is going to be special this year – all over the world. How is the festival celebrated in the former Corona hotspot Spain, what is even possible? And what about in neighboring Portugal?
By Oliver Neuroth, ARD Studio Madrid
Olivia and Noelia from Madrid usually go out with their parents at Christmas. One of the grandparents of the ten- and seven-year-olds live in Pamplona – a four-hour drive away – the other grandparents in Greece, a four-hour flight away. The family usually spends Christmas there and in Pamplona Epiphany on January 6th, which is traditionally the first time gifts are given in Spain – but not this year.
The first Christmas without grandparents
“It’s a bit strange because I usually see my grandma a lot in Greece,” says Olivia. “This year, however, we hardly saw each other at all. So far I have not had a Christmas party without her. That is now very sad.”
Four of the family stays in Madrid. Noelia can make friends with it: “We will decorate the apartment, we will also have a Christmas tree. Hopefully the Three Wise Men will bring many presents. The fact that I cannot see Grandma and Grandpa also makes me sad.”
As few contacts as possible – this is the motto of the Spanish government. She wants as few people as possible to be in the country over the holidays. For example, if you want to go to the Galicia region over Christmas from a risk area, you first have to go to the Corona test there. Other regions want to seal themselves off completely for internal Spanish traffic.
“We’restayinghome!”
“If we stick to our Christmas plan, which we have worked out together with the regions, the focus is on: We stay at home!” Says Spain’s Minister of Health Salvador Illa. “The number of corona cases is rising again. This means that each region is closely monitoring developments and, if necessary, tightening the corona rules at short notice.”
In most areas of Spain, meetings of six to ten people are allowed. On the Canary Island of Tenerife, where the number of cases is rising rapidly and has made the archipelago a risk area from a German point of view, people are not allowed to leave their homes. There is a curfew from 10 p.m.
Manuela Sánchez wants to go home with her family for Christmas, not stay in Madrid. Manuela explains that she has not seen her mother in the Extremadura region for seven months. Her parents simply cannot spend Christmas alone: ”Everything will be different, there is no anticipation for presents or great food. We will only have a small dinner with them my parents don’t have any big celebrations to be together again. We visit the parents, that’s it. “
Portugal as a new hotspot
Paula is also following this plan. She is Portuguese but lives with her family in Madrid. She usually goes home for a weekend once or twice a month – but Corona made that impossible, Paula was last in Portugal in the summer. At that time, half a year ago, the number of corona cases there was still quite manageable.
Portugal is now one of the hotspots in Europe. Strict exit restrictions apply. “We’re going home over Christmas, hopefully healthy,” says Pala. “There we visit our parents, have dinner with a safe distance and masks. Sure, we hardly see the faces of the others.” And then Paula tears come. She says: If she can’t go to Portugal over Christmas, she’ll die in Spain – not from the coronavirus, but from loneliness.
Spaniards and Portuguese have one thing in common: They are absolute family people. And the limited contacts over Christmas make them particularly difficult to create. Therefore, Olivia’s actual Christmas wish this year is that the festival goes back to normal next year: “Covid should no longer be an issue. I want the family to be together again.”
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