GIBRALTAR (AP) – Parents without masks pick up smiling Cinderellas, Harry Potters and school hedgehogs who reopened after a two-month hiatus just in time for World Book Day costume presentation. After weeks off, a football team resumes training at the stadium. Cafes and pubs have finally raised their shutters, eager to welcome locals and watch the return of tourists.
There is a feeling of the end of hibernation in Gibraltar. The narrow British overseas territory stretching between Spain and the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea is emerging from a devastating wave of viruses. COVID-19 has killed 93 people, almost all in January and February this year, and infected more than 4,000 of its 33,000 residents.
But the compact, high-density geography that is blamed, along with new virus variants, for the increase in infections has also been key to the success of the Gibraltar vaccination campaign, as the word of mouth facilitates deployment.
The recent easing of restrictions, what the Gibraltar authorities have dubbed “Operation Freedom”, is also largely due to the constant delivery of blows from the UK.
By the end of March, Gibraltar is on track to have completely vaccinated all residents over the age of 16 and its important imported workforce, Health Minister Samantha Sacramento told The Associated Press. They are more than 40,000 people. So far only 3.5% have rejected the vaccine.
But Gibraltar’s struggle to return to normalcy is just beginning. It still faces the many challenges of reopening in a globalized world with unequal access to vaccines and emerging new virus variants. Sacramento has been working on contingency plans, including supplementing vaccines with a booster.
“Getting vaccinated is absolutely no carte blanche to behave later without any restrictions. But then we also have to be a little more human and be able to breathe fresh air, ”said the minister in an office at the local hospital.
“It’s‘ Operation Freedom, ’but with caution,” he added.
Finding this balance can be difficult for a territory linked to both Spain and the United Kingdom. As British territory, Gibraltar has received five shipments of vaccines from London, most of them from Pfizer-BioNTech tests. A handful of AstraZeneca shots have also been reserved for those possibly vulnerable to severe allergic reactions.
The expansion of Gibraltar’s limited flights with the UK, which also deploys high-speed vaccines, could in theory be done by forcing tests and quarantines on entry. But the variant of the contagious virus first found in Britain has been a cause for concern.
In Spain, restrictions have domesticated a wave of end-of-year coronaviruses that strained public hospitals. But like much of the European Union, Spain is struggling with a slow deployment of vaccines that it hopes will immunize 33 million residents, or 70% of its population.
Most Gibraltarians are eager to travel. With an area of only 6.7 square kilometers, a territory only slightly larger than the Vatican and Monaco, most dominated by the imposing presence of its famous Rock, Gibraltar can sometimes feel claustrophobic.
“I’ve been in Rock for a couple of months now, without having stepped on Spain. This is a big part of our lives, crossing the border and visiting new cities every weekend. That’s what I want most, ”said Christian Segovia, a 24-year-old engineer who works for a shipping company.
With more than 15,000 people completely vaccinated and an additional 11,000 waiting for their second dose, people in their twenties are now called upon to make the first shots. Non-Gibraltarians entering medical care or other front-line jobs are already vaccinated and authorities are trying to inoculate all remaining cross-border workers.
Vanesa Olivero travels daily crossing the runway of the airport that separates Gibraltar from La Línea de la Concepción in Spain. Some 15,000 workers made the same trip before the pandemic, but now the numbers are lower because tourism remains closed.
The 40-year-old, who sells tobacco and spirits in one of Gibraltar’s many tax-free shops, says she can’t wait to be shot because confronting customers puts her at risk. He suffers from asthma, has two daughters and older relatives to care for them.
“Tell me where and when and I’ll present both arms,” Olivero joked. “I want it all to be over, to get back to normal, to be able to give a hug, give a kiss, go have a drink with friends.”
Gibraltar has issued vaccination cards to people receiving the second shot. It is also developing an app that stores vaccine data and test results that authorities want to link to other platforms elsewhere to reactivate international travel. Critics, however, say these passports discriminate against those who cannot access vaccines, especially in the poorest countries.
Gino Jiménez, president of the Gibraltar Restoration Association, has some doubts, but welcomes the app if this helps to attract foreign tourists. His restaurant, a popular local meeting place for breakfast and lunch, follows health guidelines to attract those who are “still trying the waters to see if it’s safe to go out.”
“We are a very close and very sociable community. And there’s nothing like sitting around the table having a cup of coffee and talking, ”said Jimenez, who is pressuring the government to quickly vaccinate nearly 2,000 restaurant and pub employees, most of them Spanish.
The waiters wear two masks, the tables are reserved for a maximum of six and there are no alcohol sales in the afternoon.
After reopening schools, pushing back the night curfew from 10pm to midnight and lifting the mandatory use of masks in low-density non-commercial areas, the next big thing The Rock expects is the football match of Gibraltar against the Netherlands on 30 March. The World Cup qualifier will be a test for the resumption of crowded events, which will allow 50% capacity of the stadium and will require fans to demonstrate immunity.
While they wait, the Gibraltarians enjoy their new normalcy. At the Chatham Counterguard, an 18th-century defensive bastion now a strip of pubs and restaurants, a dozen teammates from the Collegians Gibraltar Hockey Team are celebrating their first training session since November.
“That’s what’s normal … being able to have a beer with your own people,” said Adrian Hernandez, 51. “God, I missed that!”
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AP journalists Renata Brito and Bernat Armangue contributed.
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– Follow AP pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak