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GRAN CANARIA. One October afternoon on the beach in Playa del Inglés.
It’s hard to hear your own thoughts. Tourists avid to party everywhere and the music from one bar overwhelms the other.
This has been the case for decades, but not this year.
– This is the fifth time I am in Gran Canaria and it is the worst nightlife so far, says Angelo, 19 years old.
In reality, it is usually not difficult to find life and movement in the well-known tourist resort of Playa del Inglés in Gran Canaria. Music, neon lights, and crowds of party-minded tourists often drive the crowds.
But since the corona pandemic has forced most restaurants to close, some for good, we headed the rental car down two classic party streets: the boardwalk and the area around the Kasbah shopping center. If there is a party in the southern part of the island, it should be here.
The Canary Islands do not have to comply with the restrictions that apply in the rest of Spain. On the mainland, taverns in some places may need to stop serving guests at 6pm, but the national ban applies after 11pm.
But here it is shining in a little bar on the corner of the street next to the beach even though it is after 23 o’clock.
Photo: CAROLINA BYRMO
23:00 is the time limit for other parts of Spain, where there is an emergency. But this bar may be open later.
Photo: CAROLINA BYRMO
“It’s safe here!” Says the bartender Raoul. My friend Bea is visiting.
Best in the Canary Islands
– In Gran Canaria we have to stay open until one! The bartender Raoul says aloud to cancel the music.
Raoul dances with his friends on the other side of the bar. The vision brings to mind a time before the coronavirus progresses. But before the pandemic, the bar was much more crowded, says Raoul. He misses the tourists.
– It’s safe here! Raoul says and keeps dancing.
The a dozen or so guests at the restaurant on the corner are mainly Spanish. Behind Raoul’s bar it follows a couple of hundred meters of darkness down Calle las Dunas. But after passing dozens of closed bars and restaurants, music is heard again. Another open tavern!
Outside are the Swedes Angelo, Nataniel and Simon. All in their teens, carefree as only tourists can be, but with responsibly raised mouth guards.
Photo: CAROLINA BYRMO
Swedish Nataniel, Simon and Angelo.
Photo: CAROLINA BYRMO
“He’s dead here. There is no nightlife,” Nataniel says.
“Here he is dead”
– This is the fifth time I am in Gran Canaria and it is the worst nightlife so far. Most of the restaurants are closed and there are not many people on the street. But in any case, the weather is nice, says Angelo.
At his home in Stockholm, he works in a bar and is well acquainted with the Swedish crown’s restrictions on table setting and a ban on dancing in places other than his roommates.
– But it’s like a joke. Towards night there will be a lot of dancing anyway and you don’t take it as seriously as here, he says.
Angelo’s brother, Nataniel, agrees: Spain takes the pandemic more seriously, he thinks.
– It can be one or two open bars. Compared to Sweden, they take it more seriously. Here most things are closed, in Sweden it is open. Here he is dead, there is no night life.
You are still on a famous party street one night. Is it as fun as you expected?
– Obvious. It’s not about what’s open, it’s about the people you’re with.
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