Outrage Over Crowded Communter Trains During Lockdown

Crowded commuter trains are causing outrage as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage in Spain.

In once incident which took place in the middle of rush hour in Catalonia a train car can be seen packed with people without respecting social distancing, right after a new state of alarm for COVID-19 was put in place in Spain.

Catalonia started the alarm state on Sunday, 25th October, with a mandatory curfew between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. , with the aim of reducing coronavirus infections.

A day after this, a controversial video was recorded by user Iria Diaz Ontivero in a wagon of one of the trains of transport company Renfe, in the outskirts of Barcelona, on Monday 26th October.

Many users have said on social networks that it is “impossible to maintain safety distances” like this.

This allegedly happened due to the works at the Sants station, the station that connects Barcelona with other Catalonia regions, which have caused delays of up to 30 minutes.

Adif, the company in charge of the train works, was supposed to have finished on the weekend but hadn’t finished yet, as reported in Spanish newspaper NiusDiario.

A passenger explained: “It makes no sense to stay at home for the weekend if on Monday when I go to work I find this scene.”

In the video, people can be seen inside a wagon very close to each other and agglomerated with no social distancing.

Twitter user Valenti Sanjuan reacted to the video and ironically said: “As well as part of the curfew, some other issues should be solved … like more trains, buses and subways that are more punctual in order to guarantee safety distance.”

He added that despite the situation in the trains, “restaurants are closed” for 15 days.

Events like this cause a lot of controversy since the state of alarm has caused all restaurants and bars to close in Spain, leaving many families in poverty.

According to the latest figures from the Johns Hopkins University, Spain has registered 1,116,738 cases of COVID-19 and 35,298 related deaths.