In Spain, This Summer Felt Like Time Travelling.

The hardest moments of the pandemic seem long gone. But, despite donning on our masks and frantically squeezing tubes of hand sanitiser, the fear is far from being eradicated.

Since COVID-19 hit, Spain´s families have been trying to grapple with the “new normal” as best as they can. The Lack of physical contact is what we yearn for the most -and the absence of a regular summer has had a profound impact on our psyche.

With the pandemic, a wave of empathy towards health care workers and a sentiment of total support to our government came along. However, during the last couple of months, the social climate has grown more fraught and we’ve had to deal with our very own version of anti-mask movements, anti-vaxxers, and 5G conspiracists. These movements and conspiracy theories have been bolstered by local celebs, like the singer Miguel Bosé -an avid ‘plandemic’ supporter — who fostered the celebration of an anti-mask rally in Madrid last month. But, amidst all the turmoil caused by the coronavirus, some places are unexpectedly thriving.

Like in the rest of Europe, Spanish rural towns have gained a new glow. Urban dwellers have fled the city and rural Spain, known as La España Vacía -in English “Empty Spain”-, is being filled with flocks of city-weary people seeking the intimacy that rural areas provide.

This is the summer of remembrance in Spain. My family and I are part of the Madrileños who left for the countryside. We decided to spend our holidays in Colmenar del Arroyo -a little village of granite houses, fig-trees, and holm oak forests- and, like many of our fellow Spaniards, the place we are dwelling at is an old family house -that we had even thought of selling.

The property had been in a slow decay for a couple of years –a garden of wild weeds and a swamp-like swimming pool full of frogs, tadpoles, and water beetles attested for this. But those times are over, and in line with many of the neglected family homes scattered all over rural Spain, ours is blooming again too. Lately, we got brand new tableware for our family breakfasts and refurbished some rooms.

It is not only the privacy our little pueblos offer, but the soothing memories they bring that is so appealing. Nonetheless, the arrival of new residents to the rural areas could pose a risk to the locals who, once again, throughout the course of this pandemic will have to choose between the machiavellian dichotomy of protecting their health or supporting the local economy.

Before the pandemic’s arrival, Colmenar del Arroyo’s economy was not buoyant and now, many of the small shops and restaurants that weathered such challenging times have had to concoct original ideas to keep the business afloat -like Doña Filo, a former Michelin Star restaurant where every week they come up with a new affordable twenty-plus dish menu to seduce both locals and tourists. Despite the difficulties, the efforts to revive the economy seem to be paying off in this little town.

In August, when most people in Spain go on vacation, swarms of tourists gathered at the public square poised to spend their money at the local bars -and eager to enjoy the family time they lost during the lockdown months. Meat and organic eggs from local farms, as well as the delicious green figs from Mariano’s, the pueblo’s oldest grocery store, are very coveted. And every weekend, huge seafood and rabbit paellas, a traditional rice-based dish, are delivered to eat at home.

At the time of writing this article, Spain ranks first amongst the European countries with most coronavirus active cases. And the virus is spreading faster than in the U.S. Hence, in Colmenar del Arroyo, many fear this sudden bonanza could simply be a mirage or another COVID-19 fluke.

In 2020, Spaniards chose to spend the holidays revisiting their past. Many of us, seeking reassurance in our roots, have taken up old hobbies -like guitar playing and landscape drawing. To kill time, face-masked croquette and marmalade cooking sessions took place. And some, like Ana’s daughter, have retrieved their old Nintendo Wii from its dusty box, a virtual trip to simpler times. “At home, you can see both adults and children revolve around the machine,” says Ana, a biologist and mother of two who owns an old house in Colmenar del Arroyo, “every evening, after dinner, we set up the device and sit down to play together”. Unexpectedly, technology has come to be a useful totem for intergenerational bonding, one that families worldwide have fallen back on to ride out this pandemic. A hallmark of the oddity of this period.

In the summer of one of the most traumatic periods in global history, Spaniards have clung to the happiest memories they keep in their imagination. And nostalgically, many have returned to their childhood summer towns. As in a bleak rehearsal of the fondest moments of our bygone lives.