keithBT

Well, we've been in total uk isolation for ten days now. Four weeks ago we were enjoying all there is to offer in Spain and PT. We spent many an hour on the terraces of the bars in Laguna square - our favourite being the Passage. We were admiring the art on display inside the Passage and contemplated buying one of the paintings, until we realised they had all been sold already. Fantastic paintings of Laguna sq - by a local artist apparently. Clearly we wont be flying back out at end of April as planned. On our last night, we had said to the lovely waitress who works untiringly at the bar - see you in seven weeks. Little did we know the C-19 virus would get this bad.
We've only owned our duplex at Esuri for six years, but until you CAN'T go you don't realise just how much you love the place. Yes, we all know Esuri has it's own problems, no Jags/ hola19. Limited GC food menu compared to three years ago, Thai owned resto never happened - no licence. Hotel sold, but status quo. Anyone know what is going to happen to the hotel ????? BUT, in town we have some great bars and resto's. We far prefer Ruyi's chinese to any in the UK. Over in PT, there are some great fish options almost everywhere. It's also remarkable how Monte Gordo has upped its game, with the main hotels now open all winter. Not sure if the boardwalk will be a total success but at least they are trying.
I just hope all the businesses can survive the C-19 closures until we free to get back out and give then our trade !!

I've definitely got withdrawal symptoms already. Looking forward to getting back there and seeing all the bar staff etc, getting some warmth on this old body etc lazing on a beach. We spent a nice lunch / afternoon last month at the beach bar somewhere between nuevo Portil and El Rompido. Nothing special food wise, but nice atmosphere/ location. It's the only one that looks like an old beached pirate ship- novel idea. I suppose it's the whole package of sun, good food, leisure. A totally different attitude to life compared to the UK.

Let's all hope we can get back out THIS year and hope the car hire companies at Faro don't go bankrupt, otherwise we are really stuffed with expensive options like Hertz !!

Good health ! .... Keith

EsuriJohn

I think if you here now you would be somewhat disappointed Laguna Plaza is a ghost of what it would be at this time of year which would be quieter than spring picking up at Easter. It is totally closed and “Pepis” which is the best of the best was one of the first to close. Esuri is now unbelievably quiet very few traffic movements. No pedestrians odd dog walker a different world. Police patrol randomly to make sure everyone is behaving. And the weather has turned cooler highs of 18-20* and rain every other day. Still it is our corner of paradise,

keithBT

Yes, no point being there right NOW but we look forward to returning once this has all settled down. I like the sound of " the best of the Best ". Which bar is "Pepis". I must have tried them all many times, but the name means nothing to me ? We just like people watching with a nice glass.

MikeCol

Hi Keith, Pepe is the owner of the Passage. Regards Bryony

keithBT

Oh right, I didn't know his name!! Remember we are relative newbies on this forum after only six years - ha ha, but we've often wondered if the lovely dark haired waitress with the moorish looks is perhaps his wife or just an employee. I didn't want to be so rude to ask. ( It's difficult to place an age on her, but I guess anywhere between late thirties / very low forties perhaps, but I'm sure you must know who I mean). They are both incredibly hard working getting out extra tables, heaters & even gazebos on a cool evening. Really nice people and he plays some good Jazz / sax music quite often.

I was really impressed with the art on display last month and the inside is so tastefully furnished & decorated. ..............................Keith

Margaret and Derek

Keith this is our favorite bar in Ayamonte. I think you are thinking of Helena who is an employee. Pepe’s wife has shoulder length hair and very curly, she is there most times but only steps in to give a hand if required. The waiter in the morning is Fran, he comes back at night, also a great worker. He picks his staff very well, lets hope they are still there when we get out of this.

shirley and anthony hide

We were in CE for just over 2 weeks , got back 7th March. Seems like a lifetime ago.
We have had a place there since 2006. Whenever we are in town we ALWAYS have a coffee at the Passage . It's probably one of my favourite spots to watch the world go by.
I suppose you could call it our "Rite of Passage"
ouch !!

EsuriJohn

We always refer to our favourite places by the proprietors name who we think of as friends and Pepi’s our longest and dearest. To the extent that all our grandchildren who were not around in 2005 when we first met him make it their first action when they arrive to get down to Laguna and rush to hug Pepi. There is also Marco’s, Carolina’s and Angela’s plus lots more dotted about town and Monti Francisco.

Jon-Bxl

Thanks Keith, for reminding us how lucky, some of us are, to have this wonderful corner of the world to enjoy. Fresh air, 2 countries, lots of differing choices etc etc. It's a bit of 'warts and all', but of course nothing is perfect.

Now that we are all laid up, we appreciate the simplest (but often the most important) things. A walk along the beach to a nearby village for coffee, a lunch at one of the many nearby restos, a drink on a Spanish plaza watching people go by... And many more.

This is a huge global problem and and I have no idea how things will look like when can finally go out with all the businesses closing etc. Also there are people who would have seriously struggled to survive through this period (even without getting the virus). The costs of all this sadness and loss, and the financial costs of the bailouts, business closures etc and job and livelihood losses etc etc ... May mean that the entire environment will be, maybe, different. I wonder if some people would feel compelled to sell their secondary residences even... Worse if they struggle to keep their primary residence. All our pensions have taken a big hit just in the past 6 weeks.

I don't know how long this will take and I hope that we can recover globally - financially - like businesses eventually did in the global financial crisis. I'm really hoping this can happen in this unique situation. It seems far worst to me, personally, than the crisis. Emotionally there could be a far longer 'recovery'

I am reasonably sure that the established businesses like 'Pepe's', will reopen, and will have loyal support. But the other establishments (bars, cafes, Restos, corner shops, clothing chains etc etc) may not/never restart. The already embattled High Street is going to struggle further.

Lets see how all this pans out. Let's hope we can see a vaccine coming, and lockdown ends so that all can restart/reconstruct normal lives ... Asap.

We will go to Pl Leon Ortega for a Spanish brekkie in the sun for sure! We have a huge list of other things to do the next time, for which we hope that list remains as long as possible after all this ends.

Jon
​​​​​​

Margaret and Derek

And just when you are really enjoying yourself the accordion player appears. Bless him. At least Pepi has rationed him to one song only, and we are still trying to guess what that song is.

keithBT

Hi jon, thanks for your thoughts in #9 pretty much all I concur with. If the shutdown goes on for three months then countries are going to be in big trouble. I seem to recall some UK ministers arguing last year that the 38 billion exit cost for Brexit was too much and thought we should hard brexit and pay very little compensation. I think the early estimates for the Chancellors business intervention are circa 200 billion. Assuming some businesses will inevitably go bust the unemployment rate could easily hit 10% and that means paying out a lot of benefits for some time. What worries me is how the hell are we ever going to pay down this 200 billion. Taxes will surely have to rise. In fact they need to rise 2% on basic rate income tax just to cover the normal NHS running costs BEFORE C-19 having been underfunded since the bank bailouts. I shudder to think if basic income tax rises from 20 to 30% to pay for this lot. Despite the austerity of the last 11 years there seems to have been a lot of froth in the economy. By that, I mean the rising of non essential things like nail bars, tattoo parlours & every third shop in the high st is a coffee shop nowadays. Fashion clothing - younger generations buy stuff wear it a few times and then bin it without even washing it ever. How do I know this ? Well, my niece aged 25 is a hairdresser. She is the second to top stylist in the salon she works. Women of all ages think nothing of spending up to £150 for the full monte hairdo and then giving her a substantial tip. She is well up to date with all the gossip which is sometimes relayed to me. She however is clever with her money and last year bought her first property. I can see lots of unnecessary spending not happening because people will struggle to afford the essentials. Have you noticed btw, very few people actually buy a car anymore. Car dealers put the price per month on the windscreen & not the sale price ? Wierd imo. People without the means to buy a car, lease one for typically £250 a month or more. This is fine all the time you have an income but very soon £250 could become unaffordable for lots of people. There's going to be a lot of cars handed back down the line.

Before I go on any more and bore ( or depress) the lot of you reading this, I basicly agree with Jon that we are going to see a lot of changes after this settles down. I don't believe life will ever be quite the same. I should add with the USA up to its neck in debt already we are all going to catch a cold if they go down the pan.

After all this I/ we still long to get back to Ayamonte and people watch outside the Passage and meet up again. It's just a case of WHEN. Some grilled Sardinas would be nice too!

Cheers all..... Keith

Moses2013

A lot of your points can be seen as positive though. No doubt we're heading into another recession but then people will also get more value for their money. Especially when it comes to housing, many might be able to buy homes they couldn't afford before and not every business is affected. It has also been great for the planet and the beaches have never been cleaner. I remember coming to Ireland just after the recession and while salaries were lower than before, we ended up being financially better off, as at least housing was affordable (biggest expense for most). Up until now the economy has been booming but people complain they can't afford housing, so at the end of the day it's not all bad.

keithBT

Hi, moses 2013, Your right about cleaner environment. The atmosphere over Portsmouth has never been this clear for many years. The Isle of wight is really clear now instead of a foggy haze ( from Portsdown hill - walking the dog of course)