• Direct. Last minute about the coronavirus in Spain
  • Vaccine: Chinese coronavirus vaccine guinea pigs
  • Economy. Yolanda Díaz apologizes for the confusion of the BOE and announces new economic measures for tomorrow

"They didn't warn us of anything," says Irene, a Madrid student trapped in Bari because of the coronavirus pandemic. He landed in Italy on March 7, when in Spain the disease was still talked about like the flu and the dead looked at their medical history and age. "They told us that there were problems in northern Italy, that there were some cities affected by the controls," he says from the coastal city located to the east of the peninsula. "We came quietly."

His plan was to fulfill the compulsory practices to "get the title of care for people in a situation of dependency", the intermediate-level studies that he studied at the IES Ciudad Escolar de Madrid, with a scholarship which he agreed with a classmate . "We are in a mousetrap," speaks for him. "The consulate advised us of a ship that was leaving from Rome for Barcelona. But how do we get to Rome, if everything is blocked, cut off? They do not give us solutions," he points out the almost 500 kilometers they have to travel to the capital. "The police can stop us, they can cancel the trains. We don't know what to do."

The ship sailed without them. "The consulate told us that we had to sign a document agreeing to travel with coronavirus patients under our responsibility," he adds. They discharged to be repatriated. "The first thing they told us was that everything was under control. Then, that we had to find life," says Irene, who is 19 years old and lives "alone in a studio."

The Naples consulate and the embassy in Rome sent the information through an email to which this newspaper has had access. The cruise left for Barcelona "on March 24 at 10:15 p.m. from the port of Civitavecchia". In the text it appears detailed how they could acquire the tickets, "presenting the declaration of repatriation" attached. "It didn't seem like very secure information." There was also a document that allowed them to move around the country: "He no longer lets you enter the links."

"I do not sleep"

His family runs it "regular". "Sometimes I feel like crying," says his father, who has worked at a pharmaceutical company "and could tell a lot of things that are happening. I know Fernando Simón." He suffers from insomnia. "I don't sleep reading news and trying to find a solution for my daughter to return to Spain."

Irene sends emails to the embassy and consulate "so that it is in writing" and she does not receive a return response. "They told us that they were going to start with the citizens without resources but we have still not known anything for a few days." Irene was recommended to wait while watching other Erasmus students fly home. "Sevillian students did leave the country. So planes landed in Seville. No plane returns to Madrid. We will have to wait here for this to happen, I suppose."

They had the return scheduled for June 20. "Some companies offer to change the date tickets." The wait is getting long. "I have uncertainty," he resolves . In southern Italy people are getting nervous. "They no longer dock at supermarkets: they dock people with grocery bags. If they hear you speak Spanish, they move away from you. My father recommends that we go out in a group to do the shopping. There is a lot of insecurity," insists the student.

Return the scholarship?

They received "80% of the scholarship" in advance. "The other 20% pay us at the end of the practices" that have not started. "We never could. The tutor told us that we could not go to the center where we were supposed to work. We came with a goal that we will not be able to achieve." You may lose the course. "Maybe we can do them from September to December, but I could not enroll in other studies , for example, which is what I wanted."

The scholarship money helps them get through these days. "We pay the apartment, the food, at least we have for that. No one tells us anything, whether we will have to return it or not, whether we will have to return what we have left over . Nothing."

Irene feels that they have been forgotten. "We are not moving. I am calm. I do not think much. I try to do some things. It is a rare and difficult situation. I do not know when I will be able to return to my house. We have no solution."

The phones of the Bari consulate and the Spanish embassy in Rome communicate. The IES Ciudad Escolar does not answer the phone either.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Coronavirus
  • Wuhan
  • Pneumonia

CoronavirusThe mathematical model that points to the asymptomatic: "They are guilty of 79% of infections"

TV'Playboy 'stops printing due to the coronavirus crisis

TV'El hormiguero 'returns to Antena 3 with its version' Stay at home '