HOW TO HAVE A LOVE(R)LY VALENTINE’S DAY IN MADRID

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by Chris Collins

Based on visual observation — no formal polls here — Madrileños are more cautious than usual, even more subdued than usual, but are still struggling to keep up their inherent alegria de vivir (joie de vivre, as the French would say) after a punishing year of the pandemic. So if you’re looking to escape from the habitual grim, enjoy a spot of bright life to celebrate Valentine’s Day, and come to Madrid, you’ll find yourself celebrating with kindred spirits, as scores of young French people are finding out lately.*

For those flying in from the outside, there are fabulous Valentine deals in fares and hotels on offer.

You’d better be warned, though, that open-arms Madrileños are tolerant only up to a point; they don’t take kindly to those who break the rules against the spread of the coronavirus. The local police are on alert for those illegal parties organized in private homes and clandestine venues by scoundrels. The police could be tipped off by civic-minded Madrileños themselves.

So many lovely parks

Having said that, Madrileños are inherently fiesteros (party guys)  and there are still many perfectly permissible places in Madrid where you could have a memorable Valentine celebration. Perhaps the best to be had in any major European capital. In Madrid, there are so many bars and restaurants to choose from. Many parks. Shows.

Moreover, if you’re in the mood for a romantic escapade into the Madrid mountains, outside of the capital, you can do that too.  You can come and go as you please but do go check out because there are some areas with perimetrical restrictions on mobility due to the prevalence of COVID-19.

A romantic escapade into the scenic Madrileño mountain with Mr Gorgoeus is an exciting option

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Here are some of the pandemic constraints in Madrid:

• The curfew is between 10 PM and 6 AM.
• Bars, restaurants and stores close at 9 PM. Home deliveries are permitted only up to 12 midnight.
• In bars and restaurants, a table sits a maximum 6 persons on the terrace, and four inside the establishment. You can actually have a great time while you’re dining with special people. Just, we repeat, abide by the rules.
  

  Go dine in the dusk, before the witching hour of nine o’clock when the mean-spirited virus forces the doors of bars and restaurants to slam shut

• Everywhere outside of the home, the continuous wearing of the face mask is obligatory.
  This includes bars and restaurants where you can only remove your mask to ingest food and drink.
  You can’t divest of the mask all throughout the time you’re in a restaurant/bar. Put back the mask after each ingestion.
• Movies, theaters or some such may remain open after 9 PM but must close before the 10 PM curfew.
• You can’t go visiting. Only live-ins can gather in a home or enclosed spaces (espacios cerrados).
• Some specific areas and even whole towns may be perimetrically closed.

When in doubt as to any of the restrictions, check with the police station nearest to where you are.

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Images
>Featured image/Prettysleepy from Pixabay
>Sign/OpenClipart Vector (text supplied) from Pixabay
>Madrid park/Nicolas Vigier via Flickr, PD
>Mountain escapade/Otto Garcia from Pixabay
>Restaurant terrace (Casino Restaurant terrace) ©PromoMadrid/Max Alexander, CC BY-SA2.0 via Flickr
>Hearts/Gerd Altmann (text supplied) from Pixabay