Lockdown in Spain: the unexpected benefits

Time to explore

The day the lockdown is declared, it feels a bit like living in suspended reality.  Nothing is quite certain, nothing is quite real.  Everything moves slowly as we’re trying to adjust to the new rules.  But then, after a day or so, we stop to think about what we can no longer do, and we focus on what we can do.

We’ve explored parts of our municipality that otherwise we wouldn’t have seen: the town of Iznajar viewed from a different angle, a little track on our side of the lake that we’ve always wanted to explore, different walks around our area whilst enjoying the November sunshine.  We’ve got our local map out and are planning further routes on tracks that we didn’t know existed. And so we’re getting to know our municipality much better than before.

We’ve learned that we should always have our masks to hand, because on one of our walks on a very minor road with nobody in sight, a police car pulled up and we were told in no uncertain terms to follow the rules: masks must always be worn on public roads.

Being able to shop small and buy locally

Our local town of Iznajar is small, and very pretty.  An ideal place to have a wander, view the magnificent church and castle or have a drink with tapas on a local terrace.  We’d never gone there for groceries though, because the supermarkets look dark and uninviting, and we’d never really explored the other local shops.

But now, with the current lockdown, we cannot go to the bigger supermarkets as they are outside of our municipality, so we’ve had fun exploring what Iznajar has to offer – and have been very pleasantly surprised.

We’ve discovered a small indoor market with a butcher and a fishmongers, and have been impressed by the quality of the fish and meat, and the friendliness of the people.  And the little shop that has just started trading in the main street selling fruit and veg is delightful  – full of colour, with a lovely smell of fresh produce.  And their apples… the biggest and tastiest ever!

Another real find was a chocolate that we’d spent years looking for in the UK and have now found in our local supermarket.  It’s called Pocket Coffee (dark chocolate with a liquid espresso coffee centre) and we bought so many that they’re now sold out!  But no fresh milk, alas – for that you have to go to the bigger supermarkets.

More unexpected discoveries

As winter is approaching and the nights especially are getting colder, we were concerned that we wouldn’t be able to find the right pellets for our pellet burner.  Winters can be cold where we live and we were almost out of fuel.   In a part of Iznajar that we’d never been to, we found a most interesting shop that sold not just pellets, but all sorts of plants and garden related items, and a plethora of unidentified ‘stuff’ that next time we go to buy pellets we will most definitely explore.

And then there is this very small, unassuming, dark little shop in the centre of town that is always worth going into for cups and saucers, plates, dishes, bowls and jugs – all in that lovely grey/blue/green of Andalucian pottery.  No need to go far!

Highlights of the current lockdown in Spain

A few months ago, I wrote about our village bar being closed and about how much we missed it.  And now, after 18 months, and in the middle of lockdown, Los Pajaritos has opened again.   It’s seen as ‘the heart of the village’, and it’s certainly true that since it’s opened there’s been a steady stream of customers.

Most people sit outside (the Spanish in the shade, the northern Europeans in the sun), with tables set apart for social distancing.  The lockdown rules mean that bars have to close at 6pm, and so we tend to go for a drink and food around lunchtime.  It’s fantastic to be able to walk to the bar through glorious countryside, meet up with a friend or two, and then walk the 25 minutes back.  Nothing could be nicer.

Post lockdown in Spain

Here’s hoping that one day, we will be able to travel again to Extramadura, Huelva, Cabo de Gata, Rioja, Cuenca and all those other fantastic places in Spain that we really would like to visit.  And I hope that we’ve learned our lesson not to tempt faith by planning our short break ahead of time, but simply just go when we can.  Surely, we can’t be so unlucky that we will have to cancel a third time…