Joanne Oakley
THE bizarre trend of panic buying has spread to supermarkets across Southern Spain.
The Olive Press has discovered countless examples of supermarkets selling out of toilet roll around Andalucia.
This is despite consistent warnings and advice that the current coronavirus threat will not stop supermarkets supply of products.
At four local supermarkets on the Costa del Sol, the Olive Press found the toilet rolls were sold out.
Local resident Sam Adams was shocked when he popped into his local Calahonda Mercadona and was faced with empty shelves.
Adams told the Olive Press: “I couldn’t believe how empty the shelves were.”
Another shopper on her trip to Mercadona, Karen Livermore said: “It wasn’t that bad, it was the toilet roll shelf that was mainly empty.”
British expat and Ronda resident Gabriella Chidgey was unable to get her hands on toilet paper in her local supermarket.
“The store manager told me that every time we stock up on toilet paper, within an hour it is gone,” she said. “He was as baffled as me”.
Other items cleared from the shelves included rice, flour, fresh milk and tins of tomato. “I was not able to buy half the things on my shopping list,” she added.
A recent visit to the Sabinillas Mercadona didn’t present many empty shelves yet there were huge gaps where the now-coveted toilet roll used to sit.
Meat and pasta also appeared to have been hoarded by those worried that coronavirus will leave shops empty.
One young British expat the Olive Press spoke to in Estepona, said he was left feeling ‘stigmatised’ for buying toilet roll, despite having a genuine need for the product.
The president of Mercadona, Juan Roig, recently called for calm after this rise in impulse buying.
Roig went on to say that within the shops and facilities the situation is normal and that ‘if something aggravates the situation, it is fear.’
The Association of Distributors to which Mercadona belongs have said: “Spain has one of the most efficient food distributions in Europe with equipment prepared to face extraordinary situations.”
The statement added: “It is not necessary to stock up on basic products since Spanish businesses are prepared to guarantee the service.”
This is based on the 400 logistics platforms distributed evenly throughout the country and 24,300 stores including supermarkets and hypermarkets of which there is one for every 2,000 inhabitants.
According to The Times’ breakdown of coronavirus symptoms, sneezing is not a symptom of the virus, and a runny nose is rarely a symptom.
It has to be mentioned too that diarrhoea is a very rare symptom, yet toilet roll has flown off the shelves with panicked shoppers stockpiling.
With this lack of symptoms requiring toilet paper, it leaves one wondering what people are doing with all of this toilet paper.
The mystery behind the missing toilet rolls is therefore, yet to be solved.
