It appears that despite the extra restrictions imposed upon the islands for Carnival that owners of bars and restaurants and people, in general, are ignoring the new rules.
As someone who reports changes in restrictions and alert levels for the Island of Tenerife, I've grown very accustomed to following the rules and find it easy to see where others may not be following the rules.
By chance yesterday I happened to be in Los Cristianos and took a lovely long walk along the coast right up into Costa Adeje, naturally as a touristic place the coast is littered with bars and restaurants, but, something was different, it was busy and full of music.
Now I do not know if it's just because of Valentine's Day that people were out, or if it was because it was Sunday and lots of locals were off work, but it was very busy compared to the last year, it felt as if it was an ordinary day pre-covid.
Right along the Las Vistas beach, bars had live music, people were queuing to enter them whilst blocking the promenade. As far as I'm aware the restrictions state, and it is printed in black and white in the BOC, that any entertainment which encourages the grouping of people is prohibited at any alert level.
I'm no expert, but I think, and as being someone who was affected by a very similar rule for Christmas in the bar I work in, live music is not permitted because it encourages people to gather.
The coast was full of it, in the centre of Los Cristianos on the beach overlooking the harbour, it was full, almost chaotic, bars and restaurants blasting out music, with live entertainment. Further, along into Las Americas where the natural pool is, there is a beach bar which actually had a DJ who was dancing along and encouraging others to do so. That is definitely not allowed.
And it's not just down that end of the Island, reports are coming in from all across the island. I've noticed it here in Los Gigantes too, I was walking to the HiperDino at the top where Mercadona is and low and behold the Don José Tapas bar had live entertainment so loud you could hear it at the bottom of the hill.
Additionally in the village itself, the Jardín del Sol Restaurant is putting its tables away at 11pm, which means they must have customers well past the mandatory closing time of 10pm.
I hate to sound like a moaning so and so, but, it really looks like that either there is not enough police to enforce the regulations or the spirit of Carnival has a firm grasp on people and they are bored to follow the rules.
It's always the way, a glimmer of hope comes along, reports come in saying the island is doing well against the virus and one month later, bam! More cases of the virus, more restrictions. Just because we have been given a little more freedom, does not mean we can just ignore our responsibilities.
I will not be surprised if, in March/April when probably we can start receiving British tourists (which of course are the primary driving force of the economy here), we have more restrictive measures put in place and the ports and airports of the island are closed to foreigners again.
I am going to mark this article as a blog, as it is my findings, experiences and opinions over the last two days. If you read this all the way to the end may I say, thank you.