There is a small Belgian enclave in the south of the Netherlands where respect for two sets of regulations to combat coronavirus has a daily challenge, with foreign borders crossing the streets and even crossing department stores and houses.
The small town of Baarle-Hertog is played through the jowl with its Dutch neighbour Baarle-Nassau in the south of the Netherlands, however, its 22 enclaves are on Belgian territory and are part of the municipality of Antwerp, which is about 50 kilometers (31 miles). ).
Previously, no one was too concerned about the fact that the Belgian Baarle-Hertog was absolutely surrounded across the Netherlands, the border passed like a mosaic through the two cities and where the position of the gateway determined which country we lived in. .
But then came the pandemic of coronavirus, Belgium following a set of rules and Holland, and confusion reigned.
Willem van Gool, president of the tourism of Baarle-Hertog and Baarle-Nassau, poses in Baarle, Belgium. Photo: AFP / French WALSCHAERTS
In Baarle-Hertog, as in Antwerp, it is mandatory to wear a mask in a public area. This is the case in Baarle-Nassau, as Dutch regulations only require masking on public transport.
“People don’t perceive whether to wear a mask or not when they come to my shop,” said Sylvia Reijbroek, a local resident whose art gallery is divided across the border, marked with undeniable white crosses on the floor.
Artist Sylvia Reijbroek, owner of an art gallery, wears a mask in the Belgian of her shop, dotted with white crosses, because Belgium makes the mask mandatory to combat the coronavirus Photo: AFP / Francois WALSCHAERTS
The Dutchwoman had fun across the national border separating the site, but since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic “it’s no longer so cute.”
Customers entering the Belgian aspect of the gallery must wear a mask, before a few meters away they inspect the gallery, they are allowed to remove it because they have “crossed the border”.
Before the coronavirus, “there were no border problems. Now we see that it is different,” Reijbroek, who is an artist, told the AFP.
Artist Sylvia Reijbroek, owner of an art gallery that stretches on both sides of the border between the Netherlands and Belgium, sits on the Dutch side without a mask because it is mandatory there Photo: AFP / French WALSCHAERTS
Despite the obvious white crosses demarcating the border between Belgium and the Netherlands, the two villages used to work well together, said Frans De Bont, Baarle-Hertog’s mayor.
“With crown everything has changed. No one to do,” he told the AFP.
“Now it’s ‘you’re Dutch and you have your regulations’ and we have Belgian regulations that are stricter. And it’s strange,” said De Bont, whose 7.5-square-kilometre village has so far recorded 14 cases of coronavirus.
Women walk on painted white crosses on the floor separating Holland and Belgium. The Belgian city of Baarle-Hertog has 22 enclaves on Dutch territory and the Dutch city of Baarle-Nassau contains seven land spaces surrounded by Belgium Photo: AFP / Franois WALSCHAERTS
During the recent closure, Reijbroek had to close his art gallery under Belgian law, while an adjacent store in the Dutch aspect may remain open.
Calling it a “smart blockade,” the Netherlands is one of the few countries in Europe that did not order a full quarantine at the height of the pandemic.
For the population of the two cities of about 9,600 people arriving through a delicate situation, some companies now show symptoms in the shop window that say, “No mask is required here.”
To rise to the absurdity of the situation, the Government of Antwerp has tightened restrictions on COVID-19 by introducing a curfew at night.
Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hertog dates back to the Middle Ages, and the geographical anomaly has attracted tourists from all over the world.
In 1198, the territory was divided when Henry I, Duke of Brabant, handed over land to Godfried de Schoten, lord of Breda.
In 1830, when Belgium became independent and separated from the Netherlands, the exact border factor came to the fore.
Despite everything, the border was settled in 1995, some 165 years later.
This is a “unique” case in the world, said Willem van Gool, director of tourism for Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hertog.
“But, of course, with the coronavirus, we have something new to solve,” Van Gool said.
“It’s hard for others here,” Mayor De Bont admitted.
But for De Bont, it is not a festival to see which country has implemented the highest effective measures against coronavirus, so it is obviously evident in the way both peoples deal with the pandemic.
“We’re moving further. Lately we are engaged in a war (against the coronavirus),” he said.