In Spain, a giant outbreak of Covid-19 is swelling, as is the resulting controversy. It all started last week when hundreds of young people tested positive for the Alpha variant across Spain on their return from a week of partying on the island of Mallorca, in the very touristy Balearic archipelago, to celebrate the end of their exams.
Since then, this case, which makes the headlines in this country, continues to worry as the number of cases linked to this outbreak increases day by day and the situation still does not seem under control. According to figures provided by the Ministry of Health on Monday, at least 1,167 people have been infected and 4,796 have been placed in isolation. A young person from the region of Valencia (east) has been in intensive care since Monday, according to media.
“Big events without control”
It was “the ideal culture medium to promote transmission with multiple origins and major events without control”, analyzed Monday Fernando Simon, the chief epidemiologist of the government. On Wednesday, passengers on a plane flying between Mallorca and Santiago de Compostela (north-west) were quarantined after 49 of them, including students who took part in the trip, tested positive , announced the regional government of Galicia.
At least 11 regions of the country have detected cases linked to this outbreak. In the Madrid region alone, 778 people have tested positive and 2,886 contact cases placed in isolation, regional authorities said on Wednesday.
Youth accused of carelessness
In Palma de Mallorca, 232 young people “having had a direct or indirect link with the home” were confined and locked in their rooms at the Palma Bellver hotel, the regional government said on Wednesday. Tested, more than 25% of those confined in this establishment, nicknamed “Hotel Covid”, are positive for the coronavirus. The images of these young people locked up in this establishment by the sea, shouting “we are negative, we want to go out” or posting this same message on their towels stretched out on the balconies, are everywhere in the media.
And while cases proliferate, criticism continues to rain, targeting both this youth, not yet vaccinated, accused of recklessness, and the authorities. Loud music, objects thrown on the public highway or alcohol delivered to the rooms thanks to buckets hung on sheets and then hoisted on the balconies: the local police confirmed having intervened several times in this hotel after complaints from neighbors. Several parents of the young people who are locked there have appealed to the courts to cancel the confinement imposed on their children. On Wednesday, a judge ordered that it be lifted for students who tested negative.