EXODO

En la tarde del sábado 14 de marzo 2020 el Presidente del estado español, Pedro Sánchez anunció las medidas de confinamiento para el control de la pandemia Covid-19. Tanto yo como mi familia estábamos temporalmente viviendo en España. Tomamos la decisión de volver a Gibraltar y salimos de casa apresuradamente y con la incertidumbre de no saber qué esperar en un futuro próximo. En nuestro viaje de vuelta en coche, el ambiente era muy diferente a lo normal. Las calles estaban desoladas, apenas se veían transeúntes. Se respiraba un aire de miedo y pánico reprimido. En Gibraltar tenemos una tradición durante el mes de diciembre cuando en los hogares gibraltareños se planta en una maceta, trigo, que se deja crecer hasta la víspera de Año Nuevo para que nos traiga buena suerte en el año venidero. Utilice macetas para deletrear la palabra HOPE (ESPERANZA). Dentro de estas macetas planté trigo con la esperanza de tener un futuro mejor,  colectiva y espiritualmente, y sanar la preocupación que vivimos en nuestro día a día a consecuencia de la pandemia Covid-19 

Exodus.mp4

On the evening of Saturday 14th March Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish Prime Minister announced the lockdown measures in order to control the Covid 19 pandemic. Under Spain’s emergency measures the country’s 46m citizens were told they would not be allowed to leave their homes other than to buy food, pharmaceuticals or other necessary products or unless they have a compelling reason such as caring for the ill or travelling to work.

My family and I were temporarily living in Spain as we are currently renovating our new house in Gibraltar. We had to take a decision of whether we should stay in Spain or go back into Gibraltar. On Sunday the 15th we decided that returning was the best option and so we moved swiftly to return as quickly as possible. We packed our suitcases with clothes for 2 weeks and packed the car with the food we had. We left the house in a hurry and with a lot uncertainty; unsure of whether once we entered Gibraltar we would be allowed out again.

That afternoon, my wife came in the car with one of our sons and I came in my motorbike with my other son. I gave him my phone and told him to video the journey of our car heading to Gibraltar. The atmosphere was different to the usual, there were few people in the streets, a sense of fear and controlled panic was in the air and we just wanted to cross the frontier to the safety of Gibraltar. There was a thin queue of Gibraltarian cars trickling into the rock that afternoon and the atmosphere was so tense that you could feel it in the air around you. The half hour that my wife and child spent in the car was heightened with this terrible tension and uncertainty; that half an hour felt like an eternity.