Shops & supermarkets under lockdown!

[Sir Real]

Thanks for your posts Tamara.  I'm in Antigua, so no direct interest in shops in Corralejo, but it's good to know what's happening elsewhere on the island.  Couldn't agree more with your water filters comment!  I was lugging 8L bottles back from the Superdino some 100 yards away, then up 3 flights to my flat.  Can you believe I got hacked-off with it?  Had a water filter fitted below the kitchen sink late last year.  Now find myself wishing I'd done it years ago!  Money well spent, and if there's a saving over the cost of bottled water, that's just a bonus

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Tindaya to Corralejo (again!) today. 11am - 2pm.

Doing these posts has made me realise that I'm shopping more frequently than I do normally! Only because I'm shopping for other people as well and I can't get my head around more than 2 different lots at a time  .

Going through La Oliva/Villaverde I saw queues at HiperDino and both the ferreterias. Also, a number of children out with adults for walks.

Into Corralejo and down the High Street to the bank. More people around, more cars, no officials anywhere. A queue of 10 people waiting to inside Sabadell! No one at the ATM, thank goodness, which is all I went for. However, the touch screen was playing up. Only a couple of spots on it were receptive to pressure so I had to withdraw several amounts to make the total I needed. The freeform 'how much do you want?' was not working, only the 40€ or 400€!! The YES and NO on screen weren't working either so it was trial and error with Cancel and Continue on the key pad - got there in the end.

Driving up through the back streets I noticed Ideal was open and there was a car space right outside, I couldn't resist! Open 9-5 currently, limited customers inside at a time. No queue when I arrived. I wanted pool chemicals and a large bag of potting compost - they had neither - but they did have liquid ferrous supplement for plants (more in the gardening thread).

Up the outer road, Fruit and Veg, no one queueing, Marcial ferreteria had horrendous queue, Oceans Eleven (sorry, 5 oceanos) had no queue. 

Arrived Mercadona, no queue! Normal sanitary procedures. Able to get most things. Still no: pre baked pies, preferred loo rolls, raspberries, chilled coffee. Instead I bought ready made pastry, kitchen rolls, strawberries and instant cappuccino to try making my own 'chilled'.  I nearly lost my rag with a very ignorant Italian woman who kept going shoulder to shoulder with people picking out their fruit and veg but a member of staff noticed what she was doing and intervened, thankfully. Lots of tills open so only 1 person in front of me.

Driving back through Villaverde/La Oliva there were still queues at Brikogar and HiperDino but none at Fenimoy. Saw a gorgeous tree in bloom in La Oliva (see gardening thread) if anyone is in the area. The Agri co-op is open as normal - does anyone know if they sell garden compost?

 

[Johnrgby]

Did the shopping run this morning trying to avoid the rush tomorrow as they are closed Friday, no sign of the Guardia, Lidl,s reasonably quiet, well stocked with the exception of milk and cheese, Mercadona, I thought at first they had lifted the restrictions on entry as normally there is a member of staff and a security guard, not this morning the security guard is halfway along the bank of checkouts and you walk down to him the facility to sterilise the trolley handle does not exist anymore, so its just gel and gloves, I have had issues with this in the past as I have largish hands and had difficulty getting them on the problem is now solved I get two pairs in Lidl, and use the second pair at Mercadonna, again reasonably quiet, except for cheese, there are cartons of milk but no plastic bottles.

[Ducks]

Yeah, Caleta/Matorral Mercadona now has two sterilisation facilities inside the shop on the windows at the end of the checkouts instead of the single one at the door. The doubling of the stations really does speed things up— no queue when I was there, for a change! No Police, either, nor did we see the Army on the road as we have every other time we have gone out since the lockdown started. I think things here are definitely loosening up a little.

There was a girl handing out pieces of paper towel to use on your trolley while I was there, though.

[Johnrgby]

There was only one yesterday at the back of the checkouts,WG is there this morning it will be interesting how many are there today.

[Ducks]

We're so fortunate that they keep changing things to give us something to talk about during these boring times... 

[windermeregolfer]

Well that was an uneventful trip GC at the Antigua / Costa Antigua roundabout with 3 cars stopped that I could see, I just sailed through.

Got to Lidl just after nine and as I arrived there was a small queue but by the time I got my trolley I walked straight in following the usual sanitization process.  Good selection of fruit and veg better than Mercadona when I got over there.

Mercadona have changed the entry sanitization process, there are 2 stations in the middle on the window wall in front of the tills, only one in use tis morning, the security guard directing operations.  Customers were keeping the 2mts to use them.  You then enter the store in the middle.

Next port of call the Farmacia just up from Just4Sales to get face masks, 1 per person per 3 days or 5 for 15 days so I got 10 5 for me and 5 for Elaine, had to produce Green Residencia card and cost 9€ for the 10 all individually packaged. 

So quite a fruitful if uneventful shopping trip.

[Spitfire58]

Hi John,
So does that mean if you don’t have residencia card you don’t get masks ? Wonder what the people who were “trapped” on the island do 🤔🤔

[beachlife]

Hi John,
So does that mean if you don’t have residencia card you don’t get masks ? Wonder what the people who were “trapped” on the island do 🤔🤔

I assume if you have residencia you don`t pay more than 1 euro, if you don`t I think you can get a mask but it might cost more.

[Johnrgby]

Hi John,
So does that mean if you don’t have residencia card you don’t get masks ? Wonder what the people who were “trapped” on the island do 🤔🤔

I assume if you have residencia you don`t pay more than 1 euro, if you don`t I think you can get a mask but it might cost more.

My understanding is the Spanish Government has put a maximum price of 96 cents on face masks, but the criteria for obtaining one I am unclear on, two weeks ago the system dictated one per person every two days, that has now obviously changed, but I doubt the price structure will have.