The Romeos and Julietas of the coronavirus: the viral movement of mixed couples separated by Covid-19

Pilar has not seen her partner since January.

The

and the closure of borders have turned the strait that separates them into an immense wall and, for now, insurmountable.

.

Hundreds of similar cases, carried out by binational couples who have not yet formalized their relationships, crowd the Spanish consulates around the world.

Some impossible loves that under the viral label #LoveIsNotTourism demand a solution in times of pandemic and social distance.

"We started our relationship three years ago and it has been at a distance.

. We have been fortunate that they have always provided him with a long-term tourist visa that has been renewed up to three times. The last one he requested in February and it hasn't even premiered ", Pilar tells EL MUNDO.

The Covid-19 has not only suspended "sine die" their meetings but

also

they had started to register as a couple.

"We had started the processing of a

because it was the only way to live together as a couple in Spain. We had an appointment on April 14 and it was obviously canceled. Under normal conditions, he would come with his tourist visa and in two months we would have the result, "slides Pilar, who after an unfinished" way of the cross "remains determined to

.

In summer, the European Union began to lift entry restrictions into the European space, which includes 30 countries, for nationals of a dozen countries, including Canada, Australia and Uruguay.

For the rest, however,

, until further notice.

Limitations that have frozen the lives of binational couples.

Different Facebook and WhatsApp groups have been born in recent months to try to coordinate a

.

"People can travel freely in Europe and can go to terraces, bars, parties ... Meanwhile, we are assured that our partners, not being recognized under the name of 'marriage' or 'domestic partnership', They are forbidden to enter because they pose a risk to the country by coming from certain countries ", denounces a letter sent to the Spanish Foreign Ministry with thousands of signatures.

Their only option, the one they have been trying for weeks in the Spanish diplomatic legations, is recognition as a

, a procedure that the authorities have chosen to use with caution.

"We have sent all the documentation that we have and that proves our meetings: hotel reservations, plane tickets, invitations for him to come visit me and even images of our engagement. We wanted to show that

and register as a common-law couple but, for the moment, everything has been unsuccessful ", relates a young Spanish woman who has had a relationship with an Egyptian for three years.

"We have been waiting for weeks. The embassy has offered us to marry by proxy. It is not the way we want to do it. If what they want is to avoid fraud, there is nothing stranger than marrying by proxy," replies the young woman.

The requirements to obtain this kind of safe conduct complicate a solution.

"At the moment they are

that cannot be demonstrated. Apart from the fact that we do not have it. Concubinage is illegal in Morocco. To demonstrate it would be to recognize a crime," adds Pilar.

Until the pandemic broke into their lives, Julián took advantage of the holidays to meet his "better half", a girl of Russian nationality he met two summers ago.

"

. Since then we have done nothing but cancel the trips we already had organized," he confesses.

"In the summer we discovered the #LoveIsNotTourism movement and started the fight with the consulates."

"Less bureaucracy and more sensitivity"

The club of "Romeos" and "Julietas" separated by the spread of the virus asks for

to their situation, following the example of Denmark.

"That they allow couples who are not bureaucratically official to meet in Spain. Our main support, in addition to several members of the European Parliament who have signed an open letter, is that

in June. Their decree allows entry of foreigners from any third country who can prove that they are a couple of nationals of the country, and who in turn have tested negative for Covid-19 in the 72 hours prior to entering the country, "the letter argues.

"The European Union urges that all member countries allow the reunification of

but when it comes to translating that we find that each Spanish consulate says something different," regrets Julián.

"While some have acted very quickly, others ask for a marriage certificate or a year living under the same roof, which by definition

for a couple of two nationalities with a long distance relationship," he adds.

In a year without certainties, without even a date for the opening of borders and between sprouts, Pilar tries to get used to "the uncertainty of

."

Adapt your existence to an absence that only video calls or messages save.

"There are moments of despair but we take it with resignation. Everyone questions our relationship, from the Foreign Ministry to the central registry, but it is a relationship that has endured eight months without seeing us,

. It is an example of which they could. take note of many other couples, "he concludes.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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