On Saturday evening, the government abruptly announced a new rule for those returning from Spain that they must quarantine for 14-days when arriving back in the UK. Imposed just hours after the announcement, it led to much panic and frustration for those on their way or already in Spain.
‘We booked this holiday last year and would’ve lost hundreds cancelling it,’ says Janet, 40 who is currently holidaying in Gran Canaria. ‘This is the one holiday we go on every year, we wouldn’t have gone if we’d have known we’d have to quarantine because none of us can afford two weeks off work without pay. It’s just ridiculous it all changed so quickly.’
But despite the upset from holidaymakers caught up in this decision, there has been little empathy online. Tweet after tweet has referred to those in Spain as ‘Covidiots’, dubbing those who listening to government guidance that international travel was okay as ‘stupid’.
‘If you are stupid enough to go abroad because you are crying “I must av ma oliday” expect gov changes and advice,’ one social media user tweeted. ‘ You should also be charged by the #NHS if you get #covid19 needing treatment and then bring it home. #SpainQuarantine.’
On one hand, you can see why there’s passionate reactions on both sides. Choosing to go abroad during a global pandemic that has killed thousands in the UK alone may seem like a shortsighted decision.
But when you consider situations like Janet’s, the way the UK has bustling pubs open every weekend and Spain continued to report fewer Covid cases than the UK (despite much more rigorous testing) up until the 10th of July, you can see why a family might have chosen to go on their pre-booked holiday when it was government-approved just a few days ago.
The crux of the judgement seems to come not just from a place of passion, but snobbery too. This was perfectly illustrated by BBC’s Lewis Goodall, who tweeted the following yesterday. ‘So much snobbery and smugness round here. Yes some people chose to go to Spain in the pandemic (once worst of first wave was over and were given green light from govt). That is their affair and no-one else’s business. Not everyone has a Cornish bolthole.’
‘I can’t help but feel there would be a different reaction from some quarters if this were say France and Provence rather than Spain and the costas,’ he added.
With thousands of likes, it seems many do agree that this commentary has gone beyond a concern for health and slipped into prejudice about wealth. Because, although you might assume otherwise, a staycation in the UK is often more expensive than a comparable trip abroad.
According to holiday-making website On The Beach, holidays in Europe are 66% cheaper than staycations in Britain. Their research showed that a holiday in Brighton would set the average person back £2,558.96 compared to £1,021 for the same type of trip in Turkey. Right now, you can get a non-stop flight to Ibiza from London for £42, while the cheapest train from London to St. Ives in Cornwall costs £84 and includes three changes, taking almost nine hours. On Booking.com, the cheapest accommodation for one night in St. Ives is £125, the same in Ibiza would cost £69. You can see what we’re getting at.
Ultimately, Goodall is right. The scoffing at supposed ‘Covidiots’ caught short by a government U-turn comes from a place of snobbery borne from the stereotypes of cheap, all-inclusive family holidays to Spain. Rather than passing judgement then, perhaps now is the time to empathise with people and think beyond what a situation may seem.
These holidays could have been booked years in advance, by people working their arse to the bone during a pandemic that just wanted to go on their yearly trip abroad. These holidays could have been a person’s only chance to visit a loved one they haven’t seen for months, a likely possibility since over 250,000 British people were living in Spain in 2019 with 125,000 Spaniards also living here in the UK.
Now is not the time to turn against each other but to question the handling, or should we say mishandling, of this entire pandemic by a government that will enforce a quarantine rule so haphazardly their own secretary of state for Transport was literally in Spain at the time. Cast judgement there, sure.
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