Here we are in rural Mallorca, just starting Spain’s extended period of lockdown, which was made official last week in Madrid. We’re now confined to our homes for another 15 days.
Ah, was it only two weeks ago that we believed (or hoped) that we’d be free today to go for a Sunday morning walk and coffee by the Mediterranean Sea? We were either wildly optimistic or a bit naïve; I’ll go with wildly optimistic.
Our optimism may have waned a little since then. Will it really all be over on Easter Sunday? Maybe. Probably not.
More to Stay Home
The Spanish government has announced tighter lockdown measures relating to working outside the home.
From tomorrow (30th – where did March go?) until April 9th (the 10th being Good Friday, and a public holiday), only those working in the following sectors may leave their homes to go to work: foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, veterinary, opticians, hygiene products, the media, fuels for the automotive sector, tobacconists, IT and telecommunications vendors, pet food, internet vendors and dry cleaners. Banks will also remain operational. The service of motor mechanics will not be available to the general public, but restricted to freight vehicles.
I can think of a few creative friends who live in the centre of Palma and usually work from home. They will be relieved not to hear the constant noise of construction workers renovating nearby properties.
Home Thoughts
Whatever, we’re grateful for still feeling well. And well fed. I’ve never done so much baking in my life. The Boss did the weekly supermarket shop again on Thursday – list in hand and official documents at the ready in case he should be stopped by the police. I still have not left our property.
To counter all the extra carbs we’re scarfing down to keep our spirits up, we’re now settling into our daily exercise routine of stomping circuits around our field. This morning we encountered this chap out for his own exercise:
Doing his own (slow) circuits of our field
The Fruits (& Vegetables) of Mallorca’s Land
The highlight of last week for me was finding a home-delivery service for fresh produce. We usually buy our fruit and veg in a little greengrocer’s shop adjacent to the produce market in Manacor. We’ve shopped there ever since we moved to rural Mallorca but are not going into town at the moment – for obvious reasons. But we still want to support local producers.
Mallorca has a surprising number of local businesses offering home delivery services during this crisis and some online research revealed one that’s perfect for us: Terragust. All their produce is grown on land surrounding Manacor, our nearest town. Deliveries are only in the Llevant area of Mallorca. Terragust also organises some interesting events related to local agriculture and we attended one of these last year. You can read about it on my other blog here, if you’re curious.
On Friday – D (for delivery) Day – I was like a kid at Christmas. I couldn’t have told you if I was most excited about the prospect of a box of freshly picked vegetables arriving at home, or seeing my first human being – other than The Boss – in the flesh (clothed, of course, and gloved). And keeping his distance.
Santa Claus (alias Matias from Terragust) brought us a harvest-festival-worthy bounty of vegetables and fruit, and a loaf of home-made bread, for just 15 euros – including delivery. At least I won’t have to make any bread for a day or two. Whenever I have a spare few minutes (who thought there’d be lots of time to relax during lockdown?), I browse through my Delia Smith Vegetarian Cookbook for recipes to make the most of some of this bounty.
It’s almost lunchtime and, yes, we’re having a big healthy salad. This afternoon I have more biscuits to bake.
Stay well.
-oOo-
An Italian friend in Mallorca, whom I met through my Mallorca Sunshine Radio show ‘Table Talk’, sent me this video this morning, which a friend of the songwriter had sent him. I found it very moving (a few tears were shed) and hope you enjoy it.
Jan Edwards ©2020