Mid-July 2020, I panicked. Barcelona might go back into confinement. COVID cases are rising. I want some holidays but travelling in the COVID era is not easy.

I did not have a destination and was not convinced about travelling. There were too many uncertainties around being away. Too many COVID cases everywhere.

The idea of going back to a lockdown and not having a break pushed me to travel somewhere, anywhere. At that point, I had been two months on a total lockdown and then a couple more months on a partial lockdown.

The measures have been slow to ease. My home has also been my office since March. I needed a change of scenery and to resource elsewhere.

Our destination choice 

Almeria – Cabo de Gato

Mr E and I travelled to Cabo de Gata, in Almeria. It was on my “retirement” bucket list. I privileged far-away trips until now. I still don’t mind sleeping in huts, doing long bus travels and roughing it up in case it was required. I kept all the trips within Spain for my old age.

With all the frontiers closed, uncertainties about getting out of some countries or being back to Barcelona and the risk of getting infected, Spain seemed the safest option. They will not prohibit me from entering the country as I am already here.

I also have access to medical care here, and in case of problems, it will be easy to go home for both of us.

What mean of transportation?

Road trip in Cabo de Gata

Thought process

How to move around and reduce the risk of infection? I love travelling but hopping on a plane did not sound appealing for this first trip post-COVID.

Spending hours in an apparel with a potential COVID carrier? No, thank you. Any public mode of transportation was the same, though, if we think about trains and buses.

Somehow, taking the train or the bus seemed less daunting. I could easily get out in case of need.

I considered renting a car, but it is more than 7 hours drive to Cabo de Gata from Barcelona. I am the sole driver. I did not want to spend my entire holidays recovering from the long trip and then drive back again once rested.

Let’s combine train and rental car

We found a good combination of transportation: train to Alicante (mid-way to Almeria), then a rental car.

I like trains. I can stretch my legs. And as Renfe is a state company, we figured they would be COVID cautious. The return ticket Barcelona/Alicante was 100 euros. We bought them a couple of days before departure. We were happy with the price.

In Alicante, we rented a car. Rental car companies would have to guarantee the safety of their customers. I expected the cars to be clean and disinfected.

With just us in the car, there was no risk of getting infected by other people. We also intended to travel throughout the natural park for that, we needed a car. This option was perfect.

Where to stay?

There again, we put some thought into where to stay.

All the businesses living off tourism (car rental, hotels, restaurants) would provide safer products/services than a private individual (carpooling, guest houses). We prioritised booking hotels; it was a good choice. They were regularly disinfected and spotless.

We travelled last minute so finding accommodation was not easy in some areas. Good surprise: COVID did not kill tourism in southern Spain.

In Las Negras, the only accommodation we found was a private studio instead of a hotel room. I had some doubts about the “COVID safety” of the place. We rented it anyway. It was fifteen minutes walk from the centre and isolated from the crowd. We were happy.

And the activities: eating, drinking and other stuff?

Eating at terraces

We mostly stayed at hotels and ate at restaurants. Everyone maintained social distancing, and the waiters were wearing masks. Most establishments followed the recommended rules around COVID.

Some places even went too far. They would not allow you to take your masks off despite being seated until you ate or drank in open-air terraces. But ok, if this is what it takes to be out.

Social distancing at the beach

At the beach, social distancing was also the norm.

We always headed to the beach early in the morning to avoid the hot sun and beat the crowd. Then we left at 1 pm when more people arrived.

It was also a good strategy for getting parking spaces in some places.

Police officers controlling social distancing in Playa de Los Muertos

I was surprised going to La Playa de Los Muertos, the famous beach in Cabo de Gata.

There were several police officers in the parking lot and on the beach. I thought that they were researching a criminal or something along those lines.

Heck no. These officers were present in their uniforms under the hot sun to ensure that the beach was not overcrowded.

Let’s have picnics

As most beaches in Cabo de Gata are wild, we brought picnics.

We ate what we cooked in the studio’s kitchen. That was a good option. We also saved a bit of money in this way. Travelling in the South of Spain is generally not as cheap as going to Asia or South America, especially for accommodation.

Other activities

We hiked twice and did not do other activities (kayaking, boat tours etc.).

We were not just into doing anything active during that trip. And the offers were limited. A lot of places were closed.

In addition, we were already taking chances travelling. We did not want to be in more crowded places.

Conclusion

I was thrilled about our idea of travelling during the COVID era. I have discovered more of Spain (Alicante, Cabo de Gata, Mojacar).

It has been a bit stressful to decide and organise the first days of the trip. The rest was smooth. That trip also allowed me to develop safety strategies whilst travelling in COVID times (along with wearing my mask all the time and using hand gel regularly) and alleviate COVID fears.

After that trip, I felt more comfortable about travelling again. And finally, I got my much-needed rest whilst ticking off one item on my bucket list. What more can I ask?

For more information about Cabo de Gata, click here.

Official tourism website of Andalucia: www.andalucia.org/en/cabo-de-gata