Spain in lockdown Phase 2 - Day 79

An early start this morning as I was going out for my strength training gym class - quite literally out!  The class was on the terrace of Tamarells beach bar, what a wonderful setting 😍  So I cycled along the seafront with my gym mat, water and a towel and was really grateful for the opportunity to keep fit in such beautiful surroundings.  It was just like being on a desert island 🏝  And as you can see we weren't crowded!

After this class was the always popular Pilates class and here they are getting started:

I used to do Pilates which is wonderful and a LOT harder than it looks, but then got into training for the Total Race last year (and Spartan this year) and have just stuck with the fitness classes instead, but Pilates is tremendously popular!

On the way to and from the class, I saw that they were dredging La Gola.  This is much needed as since the storms in January, at least half of the water there was just sludge and seaweed.  The smell was pretty impressively disgusting on the way there and I speeded up a great deal to get past as quickly as possible but on the way back it wasn't as bad so I stopped to take a photo whilst my nasal passages could cope:

We were going to get our day boat in the water today and were all geared up for a boat trip out to one of the calas, drop anchor and have a swim and a picnic later this week......but at the last minute discovered there is a minor problem with part of the engine (some water in the trim mechanism if you're into that sort of thing, I tend to glaze over when things get technical with respect to engines 😳) which needs to be sorted out with the boat out of the water.  So the boat never left the boatyard.  It should be done by the end of this week but means we'll be a week behind in getting out on the water.  Never mind, since getting through the depths of lockdown we're pretty unfazed by anything and we just shrugged our shoulders - keep calm and carry on!

After the lunchtime dog walk on the harbour wall (another pretty breezy day) I did some housework as my domestic goddessing crown has rather slipped lately and I really should get back on track - baking some cheese straws this week should do the trick so that is on my list of 'things to do' now.  I also marked some homework from one of my students; the school won't be starting up again until September but I'm keeping the adult students going over the summer with some online classrooms.  It's very easy to set work for the advanced adults but much more difficult for the beginners as their 'repertoire' of English is so limited but we're getting by and it will be lovely to teach them all again properly in September.  In the meantime, like so many others, I'm furloughed 😟 mind you, unlike many others here, I have at least (but only recently) received some money from the government thank goodness 🙏

Not much to report in terms of local updates but today I noticed that the gardeners were hard at work on the Miramar terrace overlooking the bay.  So I think it's ok for us to speculate that they are looking to open sometime this season.  The work at the Daina has definitely progressed very well and the reception area which was full of junk before is now less full but their pool/terrace/Lemon Lounge area is untouched as yet.

In the news at the moment is the fact that the Spanish health minister has cast doubt on Spain allowing UK holidaymakers here until the Covid-19 situation in the UK "improves" despite being in talks with Jet2holidays and TUI.  Currently tourists from Germany and Nordic countries are most likely to be the first to be allowed here on holiday.  The health ministry has also reported no coronavirus-related deaths in Spain in the last 24 hours and a further fall in new infections with 71 confirmed today, compared to 96 the day before although the authorities always remind us that there has been underreporting of figures on Sundays and Mondays due to lower hospital staffing levels at the weekends.  As is usual, most of the newly reported cases were reported in Madrid and Catalonia.  Happily the Balearic Islands are one of the eight areas that have not seen a single Covid-19 related death in the last week 👏  VERY good news indeed!

Tomorrow is the big moment when I will be going further afield - only a shopping trip to Al Campo, Festival Park and Bauhaus mind you, but still it's pretty heady stuff when the furthest I've gone so far is this side of Pollensa and Cala san Vicente; I've almost forgotten what a motorway looks like 😂

Stay safe and hasta pronto!