Prepare for another hurtling ascent on the Covid Big Dipper.

In Madrid and Granada, to mention just two cities, people thronged bar terraces and streets without a care and in many cases, without a mask.

This was the scene on the first day of the night curfew being lifted and bars etc allowed to stay open until midnight.

The Policía Local in Granada had needed to use extra policing to try and keep some sort of order (and common sense) amongst the people literally partying along the streets.

The ‘hotspots’ in Granada were the Mirador de San Nicolás and Mirador de San Miguel , as well as the nightlife streets where many of the bars and restaurants can be found, Calle Ganivet, Calle Sol, Calle Pedro Antonio and Calle Moras. Barrio Realejo, Barrio la Churra and Barrio la Fuente del Avellano also had extra policing.

In fact, Granada had 361 police officers, working in shifts, patrolling the streets over the weekend, with a total of 72 during the peak hours. They handed out 25 fines for parties in flats, five fines for street parties, three for not wearing a mask, eleven for being out after curfew on Friday (the last day it was applied) and three for bars being overcrowded.

Editorial comment: one of the cries bandied about by young people visibly partying in squares, etc, was “libertad” (freedom). This word was one of the Trump-mentality, election slogans used by the conservative PM of the Madrid Regional Government, such as “Libertad o Comunismo.” Many working-class, left-wing voters opted for her party because she kept bars and restaurants open in Madrid even though other conservative, regional PMs thought it irresponsible and did not follow suit.

Popularism has a tendency to come back and bite you as it becomes a case of hanging onto the tiger’s tail.

(News: City & Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia)