Covid-19: A Summer of Uncertainty

Covid-19 has made us aware of our true level of globalization and the extent to which we had achieved it.

No one could think (or want to believe) that that first infected person in December 2019 in the distant Chinese city of Wuhan would end up overflowing all global health systems, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths, closing borders, taking the world into great economic depression, or relegating millions of people to the homes of virtually every existing town and population.

No one knows for sure when the flexibility of confinement will begin and how it will be done. Governments have later become aware of the pandemic, taking a pain in the consequences of coronavirus on their territories, despite the precedent seen in other countries. 

The virus does not understand first or third powers, or talismans or ideological beliefs. The disease begins with a cough that does not distinguish between sexes, skin colors or social status.

But this is not the reason for our entry, that to speak of something that we all already know and understand (except some insolidarios) there are already experts and analysts more trained than us, a simple nudist association.

Today we wanted to talk to you about the effects of post-Covid and its impact on a nudism level, moving us a little away (though never forgetting) the tremendous losses on a personal level that we are suffering.

Now that, as Sabina sang, we already name "who has stolen me in April" and who has left us without the Seville Fair or without Easter, many are wondering what will happen with the summer months of July and August. A few months that will be marked, to a greater or lesser extent, by the evolution of this viral pandemic in our country.

Yes, we do. It seems very far-fetched to talk about the summer holidays with which we are falling, but many (including the media) are already beginning to deal with an issue that, as I say, is not a matter of first concern, but which if it manifests issues that come to mind on a recurring basis. And especially now, when the sun starts to be seen a little more in the sky and itch in the bare skin of those lucky enough to enjoy terraces, private gardens or balconies.

But…what's going to happen to the summer summer in 2020? Will we be able to go to our beaches or will they continue to hoist red flags? And if we can do that, will the number of attendees be controlled, will we have to respect distances? Will the masks accompany us and be the only sunmarks on our body?

Well, while these questions are not yet clear, we are going to compile a number of answers from experts who have already been asked about all this and other points about this.

The unknown about the summer

What if practically all of them match, it's that it's going to be a tricky summer.

As we write these words, the national economy has collapsed by 8%.

International tourism is virtually lost this year. The tourism sector contributes around EUR 300 billion to GDP (12.5% of the total). Of these revenues, almost 93 billion are directly in the income of tourism from other countries. 

That, to begin with, is already an important varapalo for the national economy and for all those who, directly or indirectly, benefit from the income generated with it (hotels, apartments, tour operators, restaurants and beach bars, shops, food, etc…). So almost the only thing that could save a part of the summer, would be patriotic tourism. The national.

But of course, this brings us to another issue to consider.

As of today, around 450,000 ERTES have been produced in Spain, which is what they call the temporary employment regulations that many companies have had no choice but to resort to, leaving in a situation only comparable to the Great Depression of the 1930s, to 3.5 million people who go to occupy the huge unemployment rate that has been generated by the Covid.

As we say, they are temporary regulations and the vast majority will return to their posts in the future. Although this won't happen immediately. For companies to be able to undo their ERTES (and some of them may not be able to do so and have to transform them into ERES), it will be through a slow and staggered process that will take weeks or even months.

And in this bleak landscape, how can spaniards go on holiday and thus save hundreds of thousands of other people who rely through the tourism sector? It gives the impression of being the fish that bites its tail. 

Due to the uncertainty generated in the face of the temporary journey of the virus, there have already been thousands of holiday cancellations.

But while it may seem like a waste now, for the more immediate future, it is better to think with a long-term forecast.

Many administrations, through their areas and tourist trustees, are asking those who already had their holiday package booked or paid, not to cancel their trips and stays.

From the council of Tourism and Beaches of Almuñécar, for example, it is what is being asked of all the tourists who waited this year, and we believe that it is the most successful and optimal thing: Do not cancel, just change the dates.

And this would be arguably the most sensible measure to alleviate the tremendous damage that our national economy will suffer. Because it could be a bad summer, if… but it doesn't have to be a bad year.

If that were not achieved, the economic repercussions of this pandemic could be catastrophic and continue well beyond this 2020.

And once the stage is exposed, it's time to place the furniture.

The beach in Coronavirus times

Assuming that, finally, this movement of national tourism occurred in, for example, coastal areas…will there be certainly an opening of the beaches?

It all depends, as we said, on the evolution and effectiveness of the measures taken by the Government during the crisis, but many experts believe that it does. That thanks to them and the arrival of heat, the risk of Covid-19 contagion will be substantially reduced, at least until the arrival of next autumn, the time they speak could be the second wave of the virus.

But that's not going to be an excuse to put prevention aside. That, in any case, would be nothing more than a little momentary truce so that the Spaniards can relax for a while and so that the economy can breathe.

If the beaches reopen, the most likely stay in them is likely to be bound by a limited number of people. 

Or that you have to respect the minimum distance of safety established two meters, from towel to towel or from hammock to hammock.

This has been assured, just a few hours ago before writing this article, the Minister of Tourism Reyes Maroto: "On how you will be able to enjoy our beaches, we are defining different scenarios. It is very important that health recommendations are maintained. We're going to have to internalize what we're already doing now: handwashing, social estrangement (…) Crowds are going to have limitations to keep your safe distance, even on beaches,"

And that, possibly, we have to wear the mask of rigor, as some renowned virologists and epidemiologists already drop.

In the Czech Republic, whose confinement is not being as strict as in other countries such as Spain or Italy, the authorities have decreed to nudists that they must make compulsory use of masks. (you can read the news HERE)

At the veryest, it will be curious to see us naked with mask on but… it is very likely that we will live this way this summer and for some more time, at least until the vaccine against this coronavirus is developed, tested and distributed to the entire population.

Sing and post-Covid Nudism

In the case of Cantarriján, our beach, we feel some concern about how the summer will be lived.

The fact that we can count on the already classic and obligatory shuttle bus to access the beach (it is not yet clear to us whether or not there will be a bus this year), could help control the number of tickets to Cantarriján, that is true. 

But considering that the safety distance must also be respected on the bus down and up (in addition to the beach, of course), it could result in huge daily queues of people waiting, from the early hours of the morning, to access the ticket office. And that's just to buy a ticket that accesses the bus…

Likewise, the distance at the tables and bars of the beach bars will have to be respected, which will further reduce the number of people who can go to them, causing even greater damage to the current and complicated times that the catering sector is experiencing in Cantarriján, whose premises were closed as dictated by the order agreed in the State of Alarm.

And all this, of course, must be monitored and observed by the agents of the relevant authority. Not only to ensure compliance with the restrictions, but to avoid both the "loss of patience" of bathers queuing, as to control the mass arrival of the bathers of other urban beaches that they hope to find there, as Cantarriján is further away from the urban core, less control than there will be in their usual arenas.

Bañistas who, moreover, do not go there to practice nudism, so the singing nudism (like that existing in other coves far from civilization throughout Spain) could be seriously damaged.

But…will there be enough police and civil guard to control all these aspects on each of the existing beaches? We don't have an answer for that.

If we also add, that the pronudistic activities that take place every year there and on other beaches, will probably be prohibited by the limitation of distance and number, this summer could be an "annus horribilis" for nudists.

Or maybe not.

Maybe the opposite will happen. May the number of bathers who come be reduced when the waiting time is known and the non-security of being able to access. For that, nudists are more faithful and patient. And this could lead to 2020 being the most nudist summer in Cantarriján. For dreaming that there is no left.

No one can forese what will happen accurately, no matter how expert to ensure it. That is why we wanted to present here some of the possible contexts, taking into account the restrictions we might have if the beaches finally open.

But there is no doubt that in each place, you will live in a different way. With more pros than cons or with more cons than pros.

Finally, we would like to say that this may seem like a very negative scheme of how the future could be drawn in the coming months after the "overcoming" of the pandemic crisis. And it may be. Similarly, it is also possible that everything has a better solution that will prevent us from even thinking about these crude scenarios again.

But still, and knowing all that can come upon us, it is important not to abandon our nudist paradises. Keep going and undressing in them, eating and drinking in their restaurants, no matter how much textile bather we may encounter, no matter how far we have to keep. That today, it should give us more equals than ever if we can finally go to the beach and enjoy it.

Because this will happen and although forced coexistence with the new coronavirus over the next few years is going to be more than likely, our lives must move on. And surely, it forces us to reinvent also our way of living nudism or how naturist associations will have to work from now on. You'll lose things and earn others.

But what we should never lose are the good things that have made us so much enjoy life: Get naked, share a thousand sunsets with friends or have a cold beer.

Not even a cold mask can make us give that up. Never.

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