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In contrast to the class of second home owners, many Europeans are likely to spend weeks in quarantine in a confined space. Some have been laid off, while others continue to work, sometimes with limited protection, in low-paying jobs such as supermarket cashiers or delivery services that require contact with people.
First, the French government urged citizens to work from home to help slow the spread of the virus. However, given the prospect that people will refuse to work due to health risks, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire urged all staff to go to their workplaces “for activities essential to the functioning of the country”.
According to locals and Parisians on the island, some townspeople arrived in Noirmoutier and headed straight for the beach. They have been seen picnicking, kite surfing, jogging, and biking. In retaliation, the tires of about half a dozen cars with Paris license plates were ripped open.
“Your behavior was unacceptable,” said Frédéric Boucard, 47, an oyster farmer. “It’s like you’re on vacation.”
Another local, Claude Gouraud, 55, said: “We should have blocked the bridge weeks ago.”
In Italy, currently the European nation with the highest number of infections and deaths, many fled the badly affected north to the south; the region was initially closed. Although no hard numbers are available, some officials in the south have attributed new infections to the influx. Last week, Ruggero Razza, the Sicilian regional councilor for health, said on television that many of the new infections in Sicily – which stood at 846 on Tuesday – were due to an influx of nearly 40,000 people from other regions.
In Spain, former Prime Minister José MarÃa Aznar packed his bags for his holiday villa in Marbella, a celebrity resort on the Mediterranean Sea, and left Madrid on the day the capital closed all schools and universities. The move fueled anger on social media as well as a request to monitor Mr. Aznar and lock him in his mansion.
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