Three years ago today, Sunday 15th March 2020, was the first full day of lockdown in Spain.
The Canarian Government had already banned outdoor events by the time Spanish president Pedro Sánchez announced a state of alarm lasting two weeks on 13th March. On Saturday night, police told bars to close before the laws came into force at midnight.
Supermarkets saw instances of panic buying on the Saturday, but on Sunday the island woke to a strange new reality, with streets almost deserted and chaos at the airport as flights were rapidly organised to take holiday-makers home.
The strict lockdown, which closed all non-essential businesses and banned leaving home except for work, essential food shopping or walking dogs, would last until May 9th.
Mask laws, widespread testing and, finally, a vaccine would all come later, but no one who was here on those first days will forget how Lanzarote ground to a halt, and how quickly our lives changed in the long weeks afterwards.
For regular updates, pictures and videos of Lanzarote be sure to like and follow our Facebook page “Gazette Life Lanzarote”.
