RESIDENTS in Spain have been frustrated by a decision to impose a 14-day quarantine on people travelling from the country to the UK.

That’s the view of a Tyne Valley man who retired to Spain four years ago. But Anton Phillips insisted he could see both sides of the argument, and expressed fears of a second wave of Covid-19 in Europe.

Anton, the former general manager at Langley Castle, near Haydon Bridge, now lives in the province of Murcia, in the South-East of the country.

UK prime minister Boris Johnson imposed the quarantine at the weekend, following a spike in new cases in Spain.

Anton said: “The general thoughts from my Spanish and English friends here has been an irritation with the UK Government. The perception is that Spain’s actions have managed the virus and forced infection rates down, and that they’ve done this much better than in UK.

“However, infection rates in Spain have gone from eight cases per 100,000, up to 27 cases per 100,000 in the last two weeks, but most of these within Catalunya and Aragon.”

Speaking on Tuesday, Anton said that that despite the increase, there had been only two coronavirus-related deaths in Spain, as opposed to 347 in the UK, over the same seven-day period.

He added: “I was talking with a cashier in the local supermarket and there is a general fear that there is a second wave of infections coming.

“But the Spanish Government is already reimposing lockdown on certain communities, and increased diligence, if that is possible, regarding masks, hygiene, and social interaction.

In last week’s Courant, Anton, who served at Langley Castle for 25 years, spoke about the strict lockdown conditions in Spain. Now he has praised the Spanish Government’s response to the latest situation.

“There has been an outbreak about 50km from here,” he added. “The town of Totana has gone back into complete lockdown.

“The Government response is so strict.

“There are no suggestions or recommendations, they are orders.

“Here in Murcia, we are still lucky with the lowest number of Covid-19 incidents, but we’re taking no chances.”

Anton said people were having their temperatures taken as a precautionary measure.

He added: “We went to an outdoor event last night, but temperatures were taken. There’s total social control, masks are obligatory.

“If you are at a bar you can take your mask off to take a sip of beer, but you then must replace the mask, so it’s very strict.”