I'm thinking you guys and gals might want to know what a lockdown is like from a foreigner's perspective in Spain. You know, since your country will be on lockdown soon, too (at least if you're in Europe).

To preface, I don't want to make it sound like it's '28 days Later' over here but I'm genuinely surprised how 'bad' the atmosphere has gotten just 24h into the begin of the 'official' lockdown. I should also specify that, by definition, I'm static because of the lockdown, and I am getting my information from a) my window and b) friends in other Spanish locations through whatsapp groups. So, your mileage may very well vary. Maybe they're having a super neat beach party in nearby Nobu in Marbella, I wouldn't know.

With the above disclaimer out of the way, my location is Estepona, in Malaga. It's on the 'Costa del Sol' and it's usually a tourist magnet.

The rumors of military trucks, drones, helicopters and police patrols (guardia civil) are all true. I've seen the red trucks (Army), and a Police helicopter with one of these large round gimballed cameras was hovering near my place this morning for a good 30 minutes (I imagine they use cameras to keep track of people movement.) The authorities aren't messing around. I've said since the beginning that such a show of force with such a drastic impact on the economy is suspicious even if you take the worst possible official numbers into consideration. Now that I'm witnessing it with my own two eyes, I'm more than ever convinced this virus is more dangerous than the WHO has made it out to be.

There's a 30k fine (euro) if you get caught moving from A to B without a good reason. So don't. Guardia civil is, in normal times, a bit overzealous if you're used to the 'friendly' policing in the UK. I imagine they are particularly unpleasant to deal with during a crisis like this one.

The situation that no one is talking about is the economic impact. It's really hurting the middle class. I know a friend who (temporarily) lost his job the same day both his parents lost theirs. Companies can't operate, so they 'fire' (make redundant) their staff. It's very surprising how fast it's happening and I'd be very curious to see official unemployment statistics next month.

Unsurprisingly, the poor are the ones who aer hit the hardest. This video of a woman who's husband just passed, wearing one of these shitty surgical masks while her kids hug her: https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1255726/BBC-Coronavirus-latest-Spain-news-dead-Madrid-COVID-19-cases-hospital-pandemic-symptoms - all of this taking place in a deserted square in front of a public hospital is pretty much the de-facto standard if you can't afford private care. It's heartbreaking. You'd think the hospital, after the death of her husband, could have at least given her an N95 or given her ride home in a private car). Nope.

Preppers rejoice, your day has come! We went overnight from people laughing at me for wearing a mask in the airport and one neighbour calling me a 'loonie' for wearing nitrile gloves to people constantly asking me where I got my mask (if you are wondering how I'm still talking to people, Spanish people tend to be very sociable, and I live in a terraced area where bored people on lockdown talk from balcony to balcony). Sadly, there's no pleasure in being vindicated in this context.

Everything that's opened is either a petri dish (not-so-smart people rushing to buy toilet paper because they saw other not-so-smart people doing this on telly) and very few shops are opened. What's opened is almost always empty shelves (at least the useful stuff, dont worry, the usual sun cream and what not are still there).

Restaurants are hurting, BAD. Tripadvisor says there are over 200 restaurant in my immediate area. I didn't check them all, but according to google maps all of them bar 3 are closed today.

As I explained in a separate post, I'm a small-time prepper but all my gear is in the UK and I got caught out in Spain while transfering to a small, badly equipped studio while organizing for my mother care (she's in a specialized medical unit here in Spain). I'm eating rice and protein bars I had bought from the day I landed. It's so frustrating because my UK home is properly kitted, well, at least my family there is safe.

Amazon is being useless. I got several email from suppliers apologizing for the lack of delivery, one going as far as saying that delivery companies are going 'out of their way' to reject jobs. The millenials who hand wave the upcoming lockdowns in their own country as 'no big deal because we have deliveroo' are genuinely deluded.

That's about it. Again, as I said your mileage may vary. I think people hang on to knowing that 'in 15 days it will be over' but I do not share their optimism. My gut feel is we'll see a border closing within the next 72 hours.

PS: If you're in Spain, don't be a stranger, we could organize a ruqqus spain group on whatapp :)