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Meet the Asian immigrants keeping Madrid running under Spain’s coronavirus lockdown
- About 35,000 ethnic Chinese live in the Spanish capital city of 6.6 million, but there has been none of the pandemic-inspired nastiness seen elsewhere
- In fact, theirs are some of the many Asian faces that can be seen running the city’s vital food shops, amid an eight-weeklong Covid-19 lockdown
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In the seven years that Guangzhou native Grace Hexiaoya has called Spain her home, she has mastered the language, become enamoured with the weather and developed a soft spot for all the friendly people that she has met.
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She likes it in Madrid, where she works behind the counter at the I Love Dulces corner shop and confectionery store. Hers is one of the many Asian faces that can be seen running the Spanish capital’s vital food shops, even as the country – one of Europe’s hardest-hit by the coronavirus – prepares to enter its ninth week of a state of emergency imposed to curb the pandemic’s spread.
“It’s a good place,” she said of her adopted city, as she spelt out her name in Chinese characters and in English in a notebook, apologising for her English not being so good.
Food shops like I Love Dulces have been some of the few retail businesses – alongside pharmacies and a scattering of eateries offering takeaway service – to remain open amid Spain’s state of emergency.
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This lockdown – one of the world’s strictest – was recently extended until at least May 24, as the country’s coronavirus tally passed 248,000 cases with more than 26,000 deaths. Restrictions are being eased in four phases with more businesses, including beauty salons and barber shops, being opened by appointment in recent days.
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