To see it like this is a ‘Double Europe, or rather triple speed on daily commuting. Beyond here is Spain, its islands, much of the France and Switzerland whose residents move as if there was no health emergency. Or it was already outdated. In between, a row of countries – from the UK to Holland and most of Germany, down to Austria, Italy and Greece – basically hibernating under local restrictions. On the other side here the Scandinavian area and Poland, the Baltic countries, Croatia and the Eastern Balkans that seem to wake up for the arrival of spring, while around the numbers of the pandemic should advise you to stay at home.
The analysis of the Spanish newspaper The country on the degree of mobility of Europeans in 800 regions and around twenty states leaves little room for other interpretations: in the Old Continent each nation these weeks moves a little on its own and not necessarily following the rate of infections (it is the example of France). The data, updated at the end of March, are processed by drawing on the «Mobility report» di Google which anonymously collects data from millions of mobile phones to photograph our lives during the health crisis. At that point, the averages of three activities were calculated: travel for work, leisure and presence in public transport stations (trains, metro, buses).
Spain stands out in this panorama where, excluding the big cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia), people don’t stay at home very little, at least judging by their smartphones. In the next update on April 2, to be honest, something has changed. But the reversal seems to be influenced by the arrival of Easter. As for Italy at the end of the month there was a certain activism in Sardinia. In the most recent Google bulletin, the movements between home and “food and pharmacies” are much higher: in short, people went to fill the refrigerators on the eve of the holidays (and the national red zone).
Mobility trends from another platform, Apple’s, also point to a divided Europe. In the 4 April document, Italy recorded a 65% decline in car and public transport travel, 72% on foot. In Spain almost everything, as before Covid-19: “only” -4% by car and -6% by public transport. The tourist flows (German, Italian, French) of these days to the Balearics are confirmed by the tracking: + 46% of car trips (obviously to move within the islands) compared to the pre-pandemic average, + 4% on foot .
You do not travel only on roads and railways, but also at high altitudes. And here too Spain beats everyone: on Easter Monday, reports Eurocontrol (the consortium that monitors air traffic in the Old Continent) in the country there were 1,582 flights, 486 more than the average of the last two weeks, with an increase of 44 %. Italy also grew slightly with its 908 flights (+ 5%). Shy signals waiting for the free all.
April 6, 2021 (change April 6, 2021 | 23:53)
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