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Snow depth exceeds two meters in several ski resorts in the Alps and even more snow is expected this weekend. Images of shiny white ski slopes are being spread on social media.
Only problem: many of the tracks are empty.
In Ischgl in Tyrol alone, more than 6,000 tourists from around 45 countries are believed to have been infected this spring, when the Austrian ski resort became known as the “Wuhan of Europe.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is one of those who wants to avoid a repeat at all costs, and together with French President Emmanuel Macron, she has tried to reach a European agreement to keep the ski resorts closed during Christmas and New Year.
It has encountered strong opposition.
In Switzerland, the country’s government has promised that the ski resorts will be open during Christmas and New Years. Some restrictions apply, such as mouth guards in the cabin and chairlifts, distances in lift queues and closed bars and clubs. But skiing has been around for a few weeks.
Also soon in Catalonia, where the spread of the infection has slowed and the preferred ski resort of the Spanish royal family, Baqueira-Beret, received permission to open its slopes in the Pyrenees on December 11.
Mayor of Chatelas Nicolás Rubin.
Photo: Fabrice Coffrini / AFP
Even in austria The government has decided that the ski lifts will be allowed to start, although not until Christmas Eve.
“Our expectation is that we can reduce the spread of the infection until Christmas so that we can celebrate a dignified Christmas and that outdoor sports, the key word is skiing, are possible,” said Chancellor Sebastian Kurz this week.
Hotels, bars and restaurants will remain closed until at least January 7, while a ten-day quarantine is required for travelers from most European countries. The Austrian opening is currently aimed primarily at residents near ski resorts, according to Kurz.
“Skiing is an outdoor sport and an individual sport, so from a purely epidemiological point of view, it should be evaluated differently from drinking places where we know that the infection is often spread,” added the Chancellor. .
In neighboring Italy Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte makes a completely different assessment:
– Everything related to the holidays in the snow is difficult to control. This is why we cannot allow ski holidays. We can’t afford it, says Conte, who is clearly upset about the lack of coordination in the EU.
The dispute is primarily about what is meant by “being able to pay.” Ski tourism is an important economic sector in many countries in Europe, and not least in Switzerland, which can ignore orders from Brussels because the country is not a member of the EU.
There are also thousands of jobs at stake in the French Alps. That’s where the frustration grows.
https://twitter.com/nicolasrubin/status/1332595633660768256
In Châtel, on the border with Switzerland, the local mayor has chosen to hang Swiss flags in the town hall in protest that the French ski lifts cannot open before mid-January.
– The government had promised to listen to us. Instead, they removed the carpet. You can ski on one side of the border, but not on the other. It is absurd, says the mayor to the channel France24.
The French government has given permission for cross-country skiing and hotels are open, but it insists on ski lifts.
– We must prevent the spread of infections. We will now carry out random checks at the borders, and those who have been on ski holidays abroad will be forced to quarantine for seven days and carry out tests, French Prime Minister Jean Castex said this week.
The intention is clear: to dissuade the French from going on ski holidays to Switzerland and Spain.
Whether it works remains to be seen.
Read more:
Then Christmas will be in the shadow of the pandemic in Europe
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