WEBVTT - Madrid's Bittersweet Spring 0:00:06.040 --> 0:00:11.960 Welcome to Prognosis. I'm Laura Carlson. It's day six since 0:00:12.000 --> 0:00:17.960 coronavirus was declared a global pandemic. Our main story. Madrid 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:21.480 was one of Europe's hardest hit cities by the coronavirus, 0:00:22.040 --> 0:00:26.720 but now it's springing back to life. We explore how 0:00:26.760 --> 0:00:30.240 the city is preparing to reopen hundreds of bars and restaurants. 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:34.080 We'll talk to owners about the unique challenges they're facing 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:39.760 as they struggle to keep these cherished businesses going. But first, 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:51.320 here's what happened today. The US unemployment rate unexpectedly fell 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:55.440 in May as the economy posted a surprise increase in jobs. 0:00:56.400 --> 0:00:59.800 The report signals the economy is picking up faster than 0:00:59.840 --> 0:01:06.320 an anticipated that said twenty one million Americans remain unemployed. 0:01:08.160 --> 0:01:11.000 The jobless rate is still higher than at any other 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:17.880 time since ninety and economists say the unemployment rate for 0:01:17.920 --> 0:01:22.880 African Americans actually ticked up to sixteen point eight percent. 0:01:23.760 --> 0:01:27.960 That's more than four percentage points higher than for white Americans. 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:32.199 This comes after more than a week of protests over 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:38.959 racism and police brutality. New York City reached an important 0:01:38.959 --> 0:01:43.160 milestone in its battle against the coronavirus. For the first 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:47.840 time since March, the city reported no confirmed fatalities from 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:52.760 the virus. For months, the city was the global epicenter 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:56.760 of the pandemic. In April, the city had almost six 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:03.720 hundred confirmed deaths per day, but elsewhere the news is grave. 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:08.040 Brazil surpassed Italy as the country with the third most 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:12.240 fatalities in the world, and even as the pandemic eases 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:16.880 in some countries, the virus continues to spread. There are 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:21.359 about one hundred thousand new cases being added every day 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:27.760 as hot spots emerge in Latin America and the Middle East. Finally, 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:31.560 the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says a 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:36.000 startling number of Americans are using bleach on food or 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:41.120 misusing household cleaners in attempts to protect themselves from the coronavirus. 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:45.920 The agency on Friday released the results of an online 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:49.440 survey of five hundred people. The survey found that about 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:53.800 a third of the respondents engaged in quote non recommended 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:59.040 high risk practices. These included applying household cleaners to the 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:04.640 skin or inhaling or ingesting them, risking quote severe tissue 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:10.720 damage and corrosive injury. The report doesn't directly reference President 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:14.320 Trump's widely denounced suggestion at a news conference in April, 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:17.720 when he urged researchers to study the use of light 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:23.200 or disinfectants on human bodies as potential treatments for the coronavirus. 0:03:28.200 --> 0:03:33.760 And now our main story, Madrid is opening back up 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:37.560 after a long, hard few months. The city has endured 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:42.400 sixty nine thousand cases of coronavirus and almost nine thousand 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:47.160 people have died. Bloomberg reporter Jeanette Newman takes us to 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:51.960 a post lockdown Madrid that is both heartbroken and giddy, 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:55.560 heartbroken by the loss of thousands of its citizens to 0:03:55.600 --> 0:03:59.600 the pandemic, but giddy with a renewed sense of possibility 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:17.760 despite the challenges that lie ahead. H I cursed that 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:22.159 sound every morning for about six years, A nearby shop 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:25.479 owner rolling up the metal shutters covering his storefront a 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:30.120 screeching start to every day. But for two months, during 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:32.599 the confinement in the center of Madrid where I live, 0:04:33.200 --> 0:04:37.320 the mornings were silent, so we're the afternoons and evenings. 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:42.400 The screeching started again about two weeks ago. The sound 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:45.719 still grates on me, but I have a bit of 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:49.359 a soft spot for it. Now it's become a daily 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:52.960 reminder that the city and the broader Spanish economy are 0:04:53.000 --> 0:05:01.800 coming back to life. Spain's government is gradually lifting one 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:06.600 of Europe's strictest lockdowns in four stages, province by province, 0:05:06.839 --> 0:05:10.200 and in fourteen day increments. It's as if those of 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:12.400 us living in Spain had been forced to go on 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:16.159 a fast for two months, and now we're slowly reintroducing 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:21.159 some of life's pleasures. First a bicycle ride outside, then 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:26.120 visits with friends and family, eating and dining out, eventually travel. 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:29.719 In Madrid, we're in the second week of what's known 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:33.720 as Phase one. Most noticeably that means madri Lanos have 0:05:33.800 --> 0:05:36.479 been allowed to drink and dine outside at bars and 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:40.800 restaurants the first time since mid March. The sounds of 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:50.000 the city are slowly returning. That's this Sunday before we 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:54.640 entered Phase one. It's PM on the Placa Santana, a 0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:58.160 square in central Madrid. And this is the next night, 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:01.240 in the same spot and the same time, but now 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:10.120 with outdoor seating on the terraces at fifty pass we're 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:12.520 also allowed to gather with up to ten people at home. 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:16.040 That's meant reunions with friends. For the first time in months, 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:19.800 I visited friends for dinner on Friday, our first gathering 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:30.200 since March. Hello, Hello, I get that the shared meals 0:06:30.279 --> 0:06:33.840 have been a welcome respite after the long confinement take us. 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:46.160 This is a celebration. The overpowering feeling, though, is one 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:50.080 of whiplash. Spain is a national mourning for the more 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:53.520 than seven thousand people who have died during the pandemic, 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:56.560 and the country, along with the rest of the world, 0:06:57.240 --> 0:07:00.400 is emerging into the most severe downturn in living memory. 0:07:01.320 --> 0:07:04.599 Bloomberg Economics expects Spain and Italy to be among the 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:07.840 hardest hit countries in the world this year, suffering economic 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:13.560 contractions of eleven and respectively. That's fueled anger and despair. 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:17.080 Some in Spain have channeled their frustration into a nightly 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:20.800 cacophony that's known as a castro lada. That's a banging 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:24.120 together of pots and pans, a common form of protest here. 0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:27.400 Every night for the past several weeks, people have been 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:31.040 making noise from their windows, balconies and local plusas at 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:35.680 nine pm. They're demonstrating against Spain's government. A coalition between 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:46.040 the center left socialists and the far left Potamost Party. 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:50.960 Protesters say the government responded slowly to the onset of 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:54.320 the pandemic and that the emergency economic measures have been 0:07:54.360 --> 0:07:57.880 too little, too late. Now that we're allowed to gather 0:07:57.920 --> 0:08:00.720 with friends, many people seem to prefer to be outside 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:03.360 their homes in the evening. So the intensity of the 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:07.240 castro ladas has eased in recent days, but the frustrations 0:08:07.280 --> 0:08:15.520 and worries haven't. I have like a hundred messages that 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:18.600 I have to check. It's like two hours and then 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:23.240 it's like it's better not. Ophelia Marine opened three of 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:26.480 her seven restaurants in Madrid last week. At this stage, 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:30.800 only outdoor seating is allowed and only a fifty percent capacity. 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:34.280 She says the authorities are focusing too much on the minutia. 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:38.320 They're missing the existential threat facing many of Madrid's restaurants 0:08:38.320 --> 0:08:41.400 and bars. We spoke at one of her restaurants, La 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:46.040 Model Cartman. In one of the locations, we had um 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:50.640 twenty three tables. Okay, so now you have two cuts 0:08:50.679 --> 0:08:56.120 by half twenty three by half. It's eleven and a half. 0:08:56.400 --> 0:09:00.640 So okay, we said we're gonna put twelve in. It's 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:04.720 a big exactly, it's a big plata. We have space, 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:08.520 it's beautiful. Not many cars, not many people. So the 0:09:08.559 --> 0:09:12.400 police comes and they removed one of ten. So they 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:15.840 had they had definitely counted exactly how many? Yes, yes, 0:09:16.160 --> 0:09:20.720 but doesn't make any sense for who what good that makes. 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:25.319 Spain also requires restaurants to keep tables a socially distanced 0:09:25.360 --> 0:09:28.200 two ms apart. That's about six and a half feet. 0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:33.280 Ophelia says the number seems arbitrary. In France, social distances 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:36.400 one meter. In Italy it's one meter in some regions 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:39.120 and one point eight in others. In Germany one point 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:44.160 five ms, the World Health Organization says one. Spain's government 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:47.720 says the restrictions on occupancy and distance between patrons are 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:52.280 necessary to ensure the country avoids new outbreaks. Restaurant managers 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:55.280 say they support safety measures, but they say the current 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:58.720 restrictions make it impossible to generate enough revenue to cover 0:09:58.760 --> 0:10:02.040 the cost of reopening. That's one of the reasons that 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:04.320 more than two thirds of the bars and restaurants in 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:07.120 Madrid that are allowed to open their outdoor terraces have 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:13.600 remained shuttered. The average bar size in Spain is around 0:10:13.600 --> 0:10:17.240 a hundred square meters roughly a thousand square feet. The 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:21.800 country's small, intimate eateries are part of its old world charm, 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:25.400 but there are distinct disadvantage in a socially distanced economy. 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:29.320 Ophelia says she's worried that even when Madrid's restaurants can 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:33.640 start serving inside, revenue will still suffer social distance. I 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:37.880 think it's gonna be till you know phase three four 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:42.400 who knows, But social distance I think is gonna stay 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:46.240 for a while and which that kills us. One option 0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:49.040 would be to step up online food deliveries, but that's 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:51.480 not as common in Spain as in some other countries. 0:10:52.160 --> 0:10:54.840 Some restaurants have tried to pivot quickly to eat commerce, 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:58.320 only to realize the commissions on existing platforms can be 0:10:58.360 --> 0:11:01.720 as much as thirty five percent. That's untenable in an 0:11:01.760 --> 0:11:13.400 industry where margins are on average around Spain was the 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:17.400 second most visited country in the world last year. Visitors 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:20.880 are able to return starting in July, but hotel managers 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:22.840 say they don't expect to get back to the glory 0:11:22.920 --> 0:11:27.360 days for at least several years. Spain's islands and beachside 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:31.320 resorts are already receiving reservations for the truncated summer season. 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:35.160 Many hotel managers in Madrid, though, say they're likely to 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:38.640 remain shuttered through September. They won't be able to fill 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:42.080 their rooms without the conferences and business meetings that normally 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:45.920 bring people in July and August. Juan Luis de Lucas 0:11:45.920 --> 0:11:49.240 Martine is an exception. The hotel cloud Age that he 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:53.080 manages is among the few open in the city. The 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:58.760 sprince has been okay, occupancy has been well horrible. Spaniards 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:02.199 still aren't allowed to travel between provinces. With some exceptions. 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:04.400 Those who have booked rooms at the cloud Edge have 0:12:04.480 --> 0:12:07.200 come to Madrid to see their doctors or lawyers, or 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:11.080 in some cases meet up with a loved one. I 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:13.600 understand all my colleagues have decided not to open until 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:16.720 September because there will be nothing. We're opening. Nearly all 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:18.920 the adults in Madrid are closed, and our record on 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:22.160 the best day as albin eating rooms booked. If Mortel 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:26.439 were open, it would be absolute disaster because there's no demand. 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:36.160 That's eighteen out of a hundred fourteen total rooms. Amid 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:39.760 so many uncertainties, one thing seems clear. The v shaped 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:44.160 recovery that economists had anticipated for many countries now seems unlikely. 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:47.320 In Spain and elsewhere. It will be more of a 0:12:47.360 --> 0:13:00.240 slog than a snap back. Jeanette Newmon, Bloomberg News. YEA, 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:13.319 and that's our show today. For coverage of the outbreak 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:16.880 from one and twenty bureaus around the world, visit Bloomberg 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:21.520 dot com slash coronavirus and if you like the show, 0:13:21.920 --> 0:13:24.400 please leave us a review and a rating on Apple 0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:27.800 Podcasts or Spotify. It's the best way to help more 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:33.240 listeners find our global reporting. The Prognosis Daily edition is 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:38.280 produced by Topher Foreheads Jordan Gaspure, Magnus Hendrickson and me 0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:43.160 Laura Carlson. Today's main story was reported by Jeanette Numan. 0:13:43.960 --> 0:13:48.319 Original music by Leo Sidrin. Our editors are Friend cscA 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:53.440 Levi and Rick Shine. Francesca Levi is Bloomberg's head of podcasts. 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:54.840 Thanks for listening.