AS SHOPS OPEN UP

Late in April it was finally decided to allow shops to open and for the public to shop. What happened next could only be described as a social explosion as Gibraltarians took any opportunity they could get to go outside without fear of breaking the civil contingency regulations. On that day, the 2nd of May, the Assistant Police Commissioner made a statement: “This is not what was meant to happen”.

However, by Wednesday, as we began to carry out our interviews, things had noticeably died down. It had been a few days since Saturday, but not too long a period so as to have internalised this ‘new norm’, washing out all previous distinctions. This way, any of our questions with regard to the decision made, Saturday afternoon, and they days following could all be recalled with clarity by our interviewees. Marking the distinction of the ‘then and now’ contrast with relative accuracy and most importantly, authenticity.

What we found throughout our investigation were also a series of contrasts, all of a different kind. One had thought that the shops opened too soon; that social distancing was not respected; and yet was relieved that business could continue on as normal having suffered a number of setbacks due to the quarantine. Another felt that workers’ lives were being put on the line for profits, understanding that the economy must open but that it showed an unfortunate contradiction in a system that must make this decision in the first place.

CONTRASTS

Nevertheless, how businesses dealt with the public and enforced the necessary regulations were also a series of contrasts, this time more marked and distinct from each other. Beacon Press and BIA were rigorous in their application of the two meter regulations, making customers queue outside at a certain distance whilst only allowing an extremely limited number within the shop itself. Indeed, Beacon Press did not allow customers within at all, preferring to serve them from a distance with two-person limit inside. Other shops, however, were less ‘relaxed’ and more physically incapable to enforce the two meter rule within their shops that were, by design, made to fit in as many people and merchandise as possible.

These observations were made throughout our time on Main Street and Irish Town, which we began on Wednesday morning with Top Shop.

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11-05-2020 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR