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ARCHIVED - Activity at Corvera airport down to a minimum although Spanish airspace remains open
Airlines are operating rescue flights only to enable people to fly home
Police called in to keep order as tourists without tickets attempt to fly back from the Costas
Despite widespread expectation that the Spanish government would effectively close airspace to passenger flights as measures are made ever stricter to limit the spread of the coronavirus it appears for the time being that this is not imminent, due to the importance being placed on ensuring that Spaniards around the world are able to return home and that non-Spaniards are able to leave the country if they wish to.
However, the reality is that the amount of activity at airports throughout Spain is rapidly decreasing as airlines cancel routes which have become impossible, unprofitable, undesirable or a combination of all three. At the Region of Murcia International Airport in Corvera on Thursday the Binter and Norwegian flights had already disappeared from the Arrivals and Departures boards, and Ryanair and Easyjet are reportedly ending their services on Friday, although there are a lot more flights from Alicante until 24th March.
During Thursday only one aircraft landed and took off at Corvera, first bringing nine UK nationals back from Gatwick to their homes in Spain and then taking 82 Britons and 1 Spaniard back to London: these are presumed to be almost the last “rescue flights” maintained purely to allow people to return to their homes as the lockdown extends throughout Europe.
There is a huge amount of upset on social media over the whole topic of refunds for cancelled flights and refunds for those who have decided not to take a flight they had previously booked for. Ryanair is obviously at the heart of the problems as so many travellers choose to use their flights, but the airline is being forced to face up to the economic reality of the situation in the same way as most other businesses and is reducing its capacity by 80% from now until midnight on Thursday 24th March, after which it believes that its operations will unceremoniously grind to a halt worldwide apart from one or two local UK-Ireland flights. It's a MASSIVE blow for them and for all those booked to travel.
As is only to be expected, their customer support lines are overwhelmed and they are requesting that the public follow the instructions on the two updates embedded in this post, via their webpage. All enquiries will be handled, but as you can expect, they are swamped with calls and queries.
The advice is, if you want to get back to Spain or back to your home country you have to act quickly and do so, don´t worry about the money, get where you want to be and be prepared to be in a lockdown until probably the second week in April if you remain here.
There are reportedly half empty flights with other carriers, British Airways was one mentioned on a post this morning, going from Alicante airport, so if you want to get home, wherever that is for you, get online and try to get on a flight.
Airports will remain operational in order to handle any flights related to medical supplies or other emergencies during the current crisis and the Spanish government is making major attempts to get its citizens back home, so there will be some repatriation flights.
The British government is not attempting repatriation flights at the moment as it has so many nationals spread all over the world and at the moment there are so many issues to deal with, that this is not being given priority attention. This may change as everything calms down and most of the world goes into lockdown.
Elsewhere in Spain the rush of holidaymakers attempting to get home has caused serious problems of overcrowding in airports such as those of Málaga, Alicante, Gran Canaria and Tenerife, and the police have been called in to ensure that appropriate measures are in enforced to prevent terminal buildings becoming coronavirus “hotspots”. Hordes of travellers, many of them without tickets, have been converging on the airports anxious to grab one of the last flights out, and in some cases a few of the bars and restaurants which have been closed were re-opened due to the exceptional circumstances.
Meanwhile, warnings to keep a safe distance from other people were repeated constantly over the loudspeakers throughout the day, while in the Canaries the Military Emergencies Unit continued to disinfect terminal buildings at every opportunity. It is estimated that there are still 60,000 tourists stranded in the Canaries, where some “rescue planes” are landing empty in order to carry as many people as possible back to mainland Spain and the rest of Europe.
There is now ambiguity about people travelling to the airport in private vehicles. Although police en-route to Corvera airport are reportedly being very reasonable and are allowing pick-ups/drop-offs for those with valid travel documents, there are now reports circulating of drivers being stopped heading to Alicante. At the moment the advice being given is to use a LEGAL taxi firm if you can. I wish we had a few of these paying us so we could advertise their services (here's our only one based on Condado de Alhama covering the southern area of the region), but we don´t; all we can recommend is to google radiotaxi and put in your area name into the search. whether the person answering the phone will speak English or not is pot luck.
Follow Murcia Today on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest updates locally for the Region of Murcia and the main information for the rest of Spain: https://www.facebook.com/MurciaToday/. Please note, Facebook is limiting the number of posts we are able to make in local groups, and the sheer volume of incoming information is overwhelming, so all updates and cancellations of events etc in the Murcia region will be posted on this main page and may not be shared into many local groups.
PLEASE help to support the flow and sharing of information by following this page and sharing the information into groups to which you have access.
What to do if you are in the Region of Murcia and believe you may have contracted the virus
The regional government has set up a special helpline to supply information to members of the public (900 121212), and also urges people to call the 112 emergency services line if they suspect that they may have contracted the virus rather than going straight to hospital or to a medical centre. Medical staff will be sent to your home to test for the virus.
The Region’s public hospitals have limited the number of visitors to just one per patient.
Sensible precautions
The advice being issued to members of the public by medical authorities all over the world coincides on the following points:
- Wash hands frequently with either soap and water or a sanitiser gel
- Catch coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues – and throw the tissues away immediately after use before immediately washing your hands!
- If you don’t have a tissue, use your sleeve – and wash the item of clothing used at the next opportunity
- AVOID touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands
- AVOID close contact with people who are unwell
- Don´t panic!
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Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
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El Valle Golf Resort
Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort
Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort
Islas Menores and Mar de Cristal
La Manga Club
La Torre Golf Resort
Mar Menor Golf Resort
Mazarron Country Club
Mosa Trajectum
Peraleja Golf Resort
Santa Rosalia Lake and Life resort
Terrazas de la Torre Golf Resort
La Zenia
Lomas de Cabo Roig
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