GIBRALTAR (AP) – Parents without a mask catch smiling Cinderella, Harry Potters and school hedgehogs who reopened after a two-month hiatus just in time for the World Book Day costume show. After weeks of confinement, a football team returns to training at the stadium. Cafes and pubs finally lifted their curtains, eager to welcome the locals and eyeing the return of tourists.
There is a sense of an end to hibernation in Gibraltar. The narrow British overseas territory that stretches between Spain and the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea is emerging from a devastating wave of viruses. COVID-19 killed 93 people, almost all of them in January and February this year, and infected more than 4,000 of its 33,000 residents.
But the compact, high-density geography that is blamed – along with new variants of the virus – for the increase in infections was also the key to the success of Gibraltar’s vaccination campaign, with word of mouth facilitating the launch.
The recent easing of restrictions – what the Gibraltar authorities have dubbed “Operation Freedom” – also owes a lot to the constant delivery of UK jabs
By the end of March, Gibraltar is on track to completely vaccinate all residents over the age of 16 and its vast imported workforce, Health Minister Samantha Sacramento told the Associated Press. There are more than 40,000 people. So far, only 3.5% have rejected the vaccine.
But Gibraltar’s struggle to regain normalcy is just beginning. It still faces the many challenges of reopening in a globalized world with unequal access to vaccines and new variants of emerging viruses. Sacramento has been working on contingency plans, including increased vaccination.
“Being vaccinated is absolutely no carte blanche to behave without any restrictions. But then, we also have to go back to being a little more human, being able to breathe fresh air, ”said the minister in an office at the top of the local hospital.
“It’s ‘Operation Freedom’, but with caution,” she added.
Finding that balance can be tricky for a territory linked to Spain and the United Kingdom. As a British territory, Gibraltar received five shipments of vaccines from London, mainly the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Some injections of AstraZeneca have also been reserved for people potentially vulnerable to severe allergic reactions.
The expansion of limited flights from Gibraltar to the United Kingdom, which is also launching high-speed vaccines, could, in theory, be done by forcing tests and quarantines at the entrance. But the contagious variant of the virus found in Britain for the first time has been a source of concern.
In Spain, restrictions controlled a wave of coronaviruses at the end of the year that overwhelmed public hospitals. But, like much of the European Union, Spain is struggling to launch a slow vaccine, which hopes to immunize 33 million residents, or 70% of its population.
Most Gibraltarians want to travel. With an area of just 6.7 square kilometers – a territory slightly larger than the Vatican and Monaco, most of it dominated by the imposing presence of its famous rock – Gibraltar can sometimes seem claustrophobic.
“I’ve been on the rock for a few months now, without having stepped on Spain. This is a big part of our lives, crossing the border, visiting new cities every weekend. That’s why I’m looking forward to it, ”said Christian Segovia, a 24-year-old engineer who works for a shipping company.
With more than 15,000 people fully vaccinated and another 11,000 awaiting their second dose, people in their 20s are now being called up for the first vaccines. Non-Gibraltarians who come to work in health care or other front-line jobs are already vaccinated, and authorities are now trying to inoculate all remaining cross-border workers.
Vanesa Olivero travels daily, crossing the airstrip at the airport that separates Gibraltar from La Línea de la Concepción, in Spain, on foot. About 15,000 workers made the same trip before the pandemic, but the numbers are lower now because tourism remains closed.
The 40-year-old woman, who sells tobacco and spirits in one of Gibraltar’s many duty-free shops, says she can’t wait to get her vaccines because facing customers puts her at risk. She suffers from asthma, has two daughters and older relatives to look after.
“Just tell me where and when I present my two arms,” joked Olivero. “I want all this to end, to get back to normal, to be able to give a hug, give a kiss, go have a drink with friends.”
Gibraltar issued vaccination cards for people who receive their second injection. It is also developing an application that stores vaccine data and test results that authorities want to link to other platforms elsewhere to relive international travel. Critics, however, say that such passports discriminate against those who do not have access to vaccines, especially in the poorest countries.
Gino Jiménez, president of the Gibraltar Catering Association, has some doubts, but thanks the app if it helps to bring foreign tourists back. Its restaurant, a popular local meeting place for breakfast and lunch, is following health guidelines to keep out those who “are still testing the waters to see if it is safe to leave.”
“We are a very close, very sociable community. And there is nothing like sitting around the table, having a cup of coffee and talking, ”said Jiménez, who is pressing the government to rapidly vaccinate the nearly 2,000 restaurant and pub workers, most of whom are Spanish.
The waiters wear two masks, the tables are reserved for a maximum of six and there are no drinks to be sold in the afternoon.
After reopening schools, postponing the night curfew from 10 pm to midnight and suspending the mandatory use of masks in low-density non-commercial areas, the next big thing The Rock is looking forward to is Gibraltar’s football match against the Netherlands on March 30. The World Cup qualifiers will be a test for the resumption of mass events, allowing 50% of the stadium’s capacity and requiring fans to prove immunity.
While waiting, Gibraltarians are enjoying their new normality. At the Chatham Counterguard, an 18th-century defensive bastion now transformed into a strip of pubs and restaurants, a dozen teammates from the Collegians Gibraltar Hockey Team celebrate by drinking their first training session since November.
“This is normal … being able to have a beer with your own people,” said Adrian Hernandez, 51. “God, I missed it!”
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AP journalists Renata Brito and Bernat Armangue contributed.
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