As the country breathes air after 50 days detained due to the coronavirus outbreak, it is too simple for the devastating number of deaths that it has swept through Spain.
The figures released on Sunday by the Andalusian Government reveal for the first time how the infection has affected the province through the municipalities.
The report also highlighted a grim pattern, that many of the municipalities with the highest confirmed cases were inland, rural communities.
Cuevas Bajas, located deep in the interior of Malaga, have become a focal point of the study, topping the rankings with a concerned rate of 11. 47 cases consistent with 1,000 inhabitants, far ahead of Malaga City and Ronda with 2. 91 and 2. 86 respectively.
Rute, in the province of Cordoba, has also made the headlines recently with one of the highest rates of infection in the province, 9.34 per 1,000.
Visiting those two places, it is difficult to perceive why they have suffered so much due to the virus, when nearby villages have escaped lightly, while others have reported no cases.
For example, Cuevas Bajas, with a population of 1,392 inhabitants, has 4 times more cases than Villanueva de Tapia, a network of similar size with similar demographics.
So what has made Cuevas Bajas such a hotspot for the virus? Locals seem as mystified as anyone.
“We have all been following instructions since the crisis began,” explained Marie Luisa, one of the few residents who were braving the scorching lunchtime sun.
“I saw the numbers this morning and I was surprised, everyone in the town is so careful, dressed in masks and following orders, it is a pity. “
Walking the abandoned streets, they wore a mask in public and kept a safe distance from their neighbors, and according to the staff at Tony’s Bar, everyone was very well behaved.
“We know we have a lot of other seniors here, so we have to be very careful,” said Antonio Guierro, who outside the doors of his feeding place disinfecting the patio in a position to reopen.
Cuevas Bajas mayor Manuel Lara seems just as mystified, but is also quite angry at the handling of the information of the study.
“No one has contacted the City Council, and least of all, to provide us with the official data,” he told local media ABC in Seville.
After learning about the precarious scenario of the third parties of the villages, Lara is provocative that he did everything that such epidemics can save.
In an interview with Malaga today, Lara defended: “The City Council is continuously taking a series of measures and we will continue to do it while necessary.
“We take out daily the cleaning of the streets of the city, the disinfection of all the department stores through a company hired through the municipality, the delivery of food to those who want it, the maximum emotional and mental help for all those who want it.
However, he is disappointed by the government, which kept its promises.
Despite the government’s announcement last week that they will distribute thousands of more masks in Malaga for a cost of millions of euros, Lara states that low caves has won 344 masks in 44 days, which leaves them drastically short.
Rute, who reports similar numbers, presents an absolutely different picture.
The streets were full and other people were going about their lives as the hustle and bustle of the past few months seemed to return.
Masks were popular and compliance with regulations that prevent neat lines outside doors, doors to pharmacies and retail grocery stores were visible.
The epicenter of Covid-19 in Rute is the Rute Juan Crisostomo residential space, where its 12 deaths represent 99% of the city’s total.
The sources say that an excursion to Malaga days before citizens entered quarantine brought back a fatal strain of the virus.
A further theory brought to the table by local business owner Carlos Garcia, speculated that the owner and daughter of a local metalwork fabricator Cruzber SA, ‘travelled for a business meeting to Rome just days before the virus hit, potentially transmitting COVID-19 onto his 100 plus staff’.
That would safeguard the maximum infection rate of 92 among the 3,542 city residents.
Many inland villages have proven a hotbed for transferring the virus and it was only a matter of time before a certain village rose above the rest.
The concentration of elderly and vulnerable residents, combined with fewer police officers meant that communities like Cuevas Bajas had a greater threat of a ticking time bomb for the Covid-19 virus.
Accusations across local governments of having been forgotten by the Junta de Andalucía are also regular headlines on local websites, with reports of drastic shortages of PPE and a very significant lack of communication between local and provincial councils, leaving mayors of cities like Lara to take the reins and bring out preventive responsibilities with a minimum of support.
“James spent three years spent working as a junior writer at various English language newspapers in Spain before finding a home at the Olive Press. He previously worked for many years as a bid writer for an international motorsports company. Based in Cordoba since 2014, James covers the southern Subbetica region, northern and inland Malaga and the Axarquia area. Get in touch at [email protected] with news or trustworthy tips that you would like him to cover in these areas”
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