The British Exception
The clouds are low today — the breeze, when it comes, is cooler than one would expect in the beginning of June. In two days sixty-eight degrees will become ninety-five and we will begin the vigilant watch for signs of fire, a vigilance that will be maintained until winter. This is much the same as our life would have been had we remained in California, where fire season now takes up half the year. As it is, we are watching the erratic weather from our new home in central Portugal, in a region that four years ago saw 4,560 hectares, equivalent to around 11,268 acres of land burned in twenty-eight fires in this area of just over fifty square miles. (For context, fifty square miles is equal to roughly 32,000 acres.) This week, however, more than turning our attention to possible fire, the nation is turning its attention to the recent scandal wrought by shirtless, un-masked British tourists — a scandal that has been in the headlines every day since.
The reaction of the Portuguese to the spectacle has intrigued my husband and me. We, like the Portuguese, have been in lockdown for over a year — a year in which we have been to no restaurants, concerts, dinner parties or gatherings of any sort. It was announced in April that Portugal would begin a scaling back of the strict stay at home orders, and that the country would begin opening to tourism, especially British tourism, in mid-May. The majority of the tourists from the UK have flocked to the Algarve — the sunniest and southern-most region of the country, which boasts pristine beaches and luxury resorts from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the border with Spain in the east. While many of those tourists now find themselves delayed on returning to Great Britain (many have failed to obtain the mandatory pre-departure COVID tests before arriving at Faro airport, and the UK government has announced this week mandatory two-week quarantines for anyone returning from Portugal — a rule that goes into effect next week), it was in the northern city of Porto that the tourist brawl and subsequent scandal took place.
During the Champions League, which moved the Manchester/Chelsea match from Istanbul to Porto to accommodate British sports fans, the sidewalks and patios of Porto’s recently opened restaurants and bistros were inundated, and judging by the photo and video evidence shared in the newspapers and nightly news broadcasts, the crowds of boisterous, singing, yelling, half-naked Brits observed no social distancing and no use of masks in public. The Portuguese government, both federal and municipal, admittedly lifted restrictions on the travelers, allowing not only 16,500 of them to watch the match in the stadium, but to fill the esplanades and squares with no interference from the police. It was in this crowded, un-masked environment that fights between shirtless fans of opposing football clubs broke out, and it was this crude display of frat-boy thuggery — which did spur action by police — that put the spectacle in front of the nation.
The fallout has been relentless. Portuguese citizens are demanding not only answers but an end to all COVID protocols — a bending of the rules, as it were, as was seen fit for visiting foreigners. The embarrassment of the double standard — strict adherence for Portuguese citizens and residents, including being ticketed by the police for non-compliance yet no rules for the Brits — has so plagued the government that at least once since the incident, Prime Minister Antonio Costa has walked, exasperated, out of a press conference when confronted with the incredulity of his nation. Not only are many Portuguese disgusted by the pandering for tourist money, they are worried about spikes in infection rates and incensed by the hypocrisy. The country has adhered to severe restrictions since last winter and has only recently begun to re-open in phases — a re-opening only made possible by the following of rules which brought the country’s COVID cases down, and eased the burden on hospitals, ambulances and Intensive Care Units. The risk of everyone being pushed back into stay at home orders while unruly tourists live it up has enraged much of the population, and while the Portuguese continue to abide by the current restrictions, the solicitousness of mayors, police and MP’s threatens to erode the goodwill and trust of a country that has worked together for six long months to turn the tide of the pandemic.
Now, in addition to signs of fire, we watch for signs of escalating infection and hospitalization rates. We watch and wonder if, in addition to the possibility of devastating fires, we will be pushed back into absolute quarantine, locked away during the long, hot summer months just around the corner. As the news from the UK begins to register new COVID cases from those tourists recently returned from Portugal, we hold our breath and keep watch — incredulous, distrustful — and weary.