Laurence Dollimore
HORDES of Madrid residents have escaped the central region in the days leading up to its second ‘lockdown’ and headed to the costas.
As new measures and restrictions were announced earlier this week, scores of students or those with second homes hopped on trains to the likes of Benidorm and Malaga.
Footage shared online shows Madrid’s Atocha train station, which services the cross-country Renfe service, packed with passengers.
Meanwhile, according to Diario Sur, hundreds of remote workers, retired couples and university students arrived to Malaga on a one-way ticket on Friday alone.
They have also been heading to the Costa Blanca, with Benidorm full of second homes belonging to so-called Madrileños.
Such has been the feared influx in the eastern region that Valencia has suggested the national government restrict travel from Madrid.
Valencian vice president, Monica Oltra, said in the regional parliament on Friday: “It may not be a good idea for citizens from regions with community transmission, such as Madrid, to move around the rest of Spain… this would be a bad decision when the health authorities propose the confinement of municipalities that exceed a number of infections.”
Valencia has been one of the best-performing regions in terms of keeping its coronavirus figures low, being consistently among the lowest in terms of incidence rate over the past few weeks.
However without a state of alarm in place the central government is not able to restrict movement between regions.
Meanwhile, Andalucia has said people from Madrid are welcome but warned ‘it will monitor them.’
Junta president Juanma Moreno has vowed that ‘an effort will be made to keep an eye on second homes’, with a special focus on coastal areas such as Marbella and the Costa del Sol.
