MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish families who normally honour their dead relatives by visiting cemeteries on the Day of the Dead are spacing out their visits this year as a second wave of coronavirus sweeps the country.
Authorities have advised families to spend only 30 minutes at graveyards and not to go in large groups to mark the event, which is linked to the Catholic holidays of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day at the start of November.
“Our family is coming separately, two or three days apart. We are the last to visit,” said Francisco Gonzalez, 81, who visited the Almudena cemetery in Madrid with his wife.
Flower sellers said many people are staying away, meaning fewer sales of bouquets to place at graves.
Yolanda Gomez, a florist who has her stall at the entrance to Almudena, said sales of flowers had fallen by 50% this year.
Spain imposed a six-month state of emergency last week enabling it to impose measures aimed at trying to reduce the soaring rate of coronavirus infections, including night curfews.
Reporting by Graham Keeley; Additional reporting by Guillermo Martinez; Editing by Frances Kerry