Summer holidays and their share of uncertainties are fast approaching… with their share of uncertainties. What to do when you have rented a house in a country heavily affected by Covid-19, with which the borders are likely to remain closed? Testimonials.
- The Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, has announced that the French will be able to go on vacation in July and August
- But several European countries, including Spain, have still not reopened their border with France.
- The French who had chosen these destinations remain in uncertainty
The Covid-19 pandemic has nothing to do with everyone’s plans. Sporting events, weddings, concerts, festivals, congresses… The health crisis is generating its share of uncertainties, including for the summer holidays. If they are guaranteed in France in July and August – provided that the population is not faced with a second wave – as the Prime Minister announced on May 14, those who had booked stays abroad of the territory still do not know if they will be able to leave.
Indeed, in order to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2, many countries have closed their borders or implemented mandatory quarantines for tourists. Although more or less gradual lifting is underway, these measures remain in force in the majority of territories. This is particularly the case in France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, or even Spain, where the epidemic has proven to be particularly virulent.
“We say to ourselves that there is not much risk of catching Covid-19”
Patrick, a salesperson near Tours, should have left for Andalusia at the beginning of August. His parents, his sister, his brother-in-law, their children and him rented a house in Alicante, a port city on the Costa Blanca. “We prefer to cancel because my parents are over 70says the fifty-year-old. With everything that happened in Spain, they don’t want to take any risks. Then, in the end, we are not sure that we could have gone there with the closing of the borders“. The family applied for the refund in early May through Airbnb; she is still waiting for the answer.
For her part, Clémence, employed in a pension fund, remains hopeful. The 50-year-old booked a house in Miami Platja, Tarragona, with her husband and two daughters for a fortnight at the beginning of July. “We decided not to cancel because we really like going there; we go there oftenreports the mother of the family. We can’t wait to be there: there’s a garden, a swimming pool, a barbecue… Everything we don’t have in Paris. As we get down in the car and we don’t really intend to leave the house, we say to ourselves that there is not much risk of catching the Covid-19″.
“Everything is possible”
If the family is rather calm about the risks of contamination, the possible maintenance of the border closure is problematic. “Seeing Italy reopen its borders for June 3, we had good hopes. But, with the quarantine in Spain, things got really bad. I called the owner, and, as we know each other well, he told us that he would keep us in the house until the last moment and that he would reimburse us if we could not comeexplains Clemence. Nevertheless, we have set ourselves until June 15 to give him a definitive answer, in order to allow ourselves time to find something else if we have to stay here.”.
The family is already starting to look at rentals in France, in Périgord. For his part, Patrick is thinking of going to the sea instead. “But, for the moment, nothing is definedspecifies the fifty-year-old. It’s very complicated to plan, but I’m not very worried. If necessary, we can go to Normandy, to my parents. Everything is possible, especially since you don’t have young dependent children; it is therefore easy to shift the dates of the holidays. There are so many uncertainties with this somewhat unreal situation..
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