The Pandemic Silences Madrid And Closes Its Stores

By BERNAT ARMANGUEApril 24, 2020 GMT

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MADRID (AP) – Mannequins in shop windows show yesterday’s fashion, empty shelves accumulate dust and cardboard and sheets cover products that until recently were believed to be indispensable to our well-being.

The strict confinement decreed in Spain to fight the coronavirus, which has caused more than 22,150 deaths across the country, has left Madrid closed and silent.

This is a new landscape in the city. It conveys a poetic and mysterious feeling, but also sad.

The Spanish capital, with about 6.6 million inhabitants, has left behind the characteristic bustle that accompanied it 24 hours a day.

Now, the shops are paralyzed behind the metal blinds and the security locks. The products for sale are vestiges of what seems like a distant way of life.

The Spanish Confederation of Commerce, which represents thousands of small businesses, said that up to 30% of its businesses will be closed permanently unless they receive government aid.

Spanish authorities are gradually relaxing the containment measures, but there is no date for the reopening of the stores.

Some of the stores have red or yellow closings and others have drawings or graffiti.

In some you can read posters with phrases like: “Closed as a precaution”, “We are at home for reasons we already know” or “#QuedateEnCasa”.

Another had a heart that says “See you at the Vuelta !!! Take care of yourselves ”.