A dianense's odyssey to return home from Italy
Last Tuesday, March 24, the Spanish Government organized a repatriation trip for the Spaniards who remained in Italy, including Alberto Blanquer, a 32-year-old Dianense displaced there for work reasons. The ferry left from Civitavecchia bound for Barcelona, and in Alberto's opinion, «el barco fue un lugar de mucho peligro de contagio, porque no se respetaban las medidas de seguridad».
In this video, recorded during navigation, many people give their opinion on the treatment received from the authorities that should help them manage their return home.
Alberto's testimony
Alberto, a professional yacht painter, has been part of this trip. He was in Italy hired on time to paint a boat, when a positive case of coronavirus arose in the dock where he had to work. For this reason, everything was paralyzed. He was in Viareggio, next to Pisa, and had to take a four-hour train to Rome and from there to Civitavecchia.
«Mucha gente no tenía dinero para volver a casa»
He does not complain, because he has been luckier than many of his travel companions, since the costs of his repatriation have been assumed by the company that hired him, but «mucha gente no tenía dinero para volver», he tells us. Alberto contacted the Spanish embassy and the consulate, and they did not solve anything. «La atención para la repatriación ha sido bastante mala, estaban saturados», Explain. In fact, they did not inform him that there was a boat available that was being prepared entirely for Spaniards: «Me enteré porque llamé yo para insistir en mi situación».
El viaje
According to Alberto, in the port of Civitavecchia they were not prepared to give them the attention they needed: they spent many hours in the open air being very cold, and the temperature measurements they took were doubtful, because they showed temperatures below normal in a person .
To board the ferry to Spain, he had to sign a responsibility statement stating that:
- In the 14 days prior to shipment, he had not been in contact with anyone diagnosed with COVID-19, nor with any close contact of a COVID-19 case
- At that time he had no fever, cough, or shortness of breath
- He promised that during the 14 days after entering Spain, he would isolate himself at home, self-monitoring the symptoms of the coronavirus.
- If during the 14 days after entering Spain you had symptoms of an acute respiratory infection (cough, fever, or a feeling of expensive breathing), you would contact the health authorities of your autonomous community by telephone.
However, after this detailed statement, there was no control on the ship to keep the safety distance.
Arrival in Spain
«Al desembarcar en Barcelona no nos hicieron ningún tipo de test, y tenías que buscarte la vida para llegar a tu ciudad»Alberto explains. Already in Dénia, he has implemented all the necessary measures: he has communicated his situation on the phone enabled for it, explaining that he has just arrived from a country of risk, and is following all the recommendations.