‘Lifeline for holidays abroad,’ proclaims the Daily Mirror, today. ‘Save our summer holidays!’ yells the Daily Hate Mail. Meanwhile, the Sun reveals breweries are producing 250 million pints for desperate alcoholics (my words), as well as revealing that easyJet will be flying to three in every four of its destinations in August. Given that we’ve got stuff booked for the autumn, I suppose I should be cheered by this apparently great news, but I’m not sure I am.
Two of our favourite holiday destinations, Spain and, in particular, Greece are doing far better with the COVID-19 pandemic than we are. Spain recently had a death free day, death free days are the norm in Greece. Here, many hundreds are dying every single day, the infection rate remains stubbornly high and we have the worst rate of excess deaths on the planet. When I hear from the gutter press that we will soon be able to fly to Spain and Greece, I wonder if Spaniards and Greeks will actually want us?
The only reason they will want us back will be money and for that to happen, they’d have to risk undoing all the good work they’ve done at the same time our government has presided over in excess of 60,000 deaths. It is all very well talking about ‘air bridges’ or ‘air corridors’ but given our infection rate, which currently stands at between 8,000 and 10,000 new cases every single day, it would be some risk.
Never mind the party resorts such as Kavos, Ayia Napa, Malia and San Antonio, with all that potential for super-spreaders to infect vast numbers of the population, the Brit friendly Costas and islands, where the cheap booze flows through the early hours in large hotels and complexes, how on earth can mass infections be avoided? The answer, while we still have a virus with no vaccine and no treatment, is that they can’t.
Look at how our lives at home are being affected by social distancing. Queues for everything, some for essentials like overpriced flatpack furniture, are the norm. Imagine the same thing abroad? Long queues for socially distant bars and restaurants, all of which will have vastly reduced capacities and anything else you can possibly think of. Social distancing when using sun beds, making the 5.00 am rush to get a space even more frustrating.
There will no longer be crowded bars showing Premier League football, shopping will be hugely frustrating and it is very unlikely bus trips will be available for sight-seeing.
All inclusive and half board holidays will be the biggest nightmare of all, with strictly regimented queuing based on strict timings in order to ensure socially distanced serving and eating. I would say the only kind of foreign holiday that will be bearable will be the self-catering apartment with its own balcony and its own pool. If you idea of a good holiday involves socialising, partying and making friends, it might be a good time to think about doing something else this year, and probably next.
When it comes down to it, financial desperation might mean we are once again allowed to travel to our favourite destinations in Europe because economically the situation is every bit as grim there than it is here.
The possibility of five hour check-ins, of having to wear masks all the time including throughout the flight, huge delays upon arriving at foreign airports because of social distancing (think through each step of the way: passport control, luggage reclaim, transfer to resort etc etc) and you might wonder if it’s all worth it, particularly with a seven day quarantine at the other end (14 if you test positive to a random COVID-19 test).
‘Save our summer holidays’? If Boris Johnson does as good a job in trying to save our holidays as he has done with saving our people, with the obvious exception of Dominic Cummings, we’ve got no chance. If you can’t go away this year or if when you do the whole thing is a slow motion exercise in social distancing, don’t blame our friends abroad. Blame Boris Johnson.
