Elderly Couple in Barcelona Meet Through Pane of Glass Due to Covid

Elderly Couple in Barcelona Meet Through Pane of Glass

Elderly Couple in Barcelona Meet Through Pane of Glass Due to Covid. Image: Pixabay

An elderly couple in Barcelona meet through a pane of glass due to Covid restrictions.

SINCE the Covid pandemic struck Spain, Xavier Antó and Carmen Panzano have been separated for the first prolonged period of time in the couple’s 65-year marriage, they now meet through a pane of glass at a nursing home.

Antó, 90, goes three or four times a week to the street-level window that looks into the nursing home in Barcelona where his 92-year-old wife lives after the home closed to visitors more than a year ago to protect its residents from Covid.

Employees from the nursing home in Barcelona provide him with a chair and bring Panzano, who has Alzheimer’s disease, to the other side of the window so they can speak through the pane of glass. Antó uses his phone to show Panzano photos of their grandchildren, the husband and wife also place their hands on the glass and blow each other kisses.

Both of them have had their Covid vaccines, however, nursing homes in Spain are still are under tight restrictions after tens of thousands of people died in senior care facilities during the early months of the pandemic.

The couple met in 1953 and got married in 1955. They have always been at each other’s side, except for a short time at the beginning of their relationship when Antó worked away from home.

Antó told The Associated Press “We had never been apart.

“Last March, the home’s director told me that when I left I wouldn’t be able to come back because the local authorities had established some very strict protocols.”

In the beginning, staff at the nursing home made video calls on a tablet a few times a week so he and Panzano could see each other, Antó said.

“Then they set up a booth with a transparent divider, but I prefer this window because with the booth you were limited to a certain day, and then only had half an hour,” he continued.

“I come to the window since in the booth there is also a screen between you, and I can’t touch her or give her a kiss anyway.”

When he cannot go to visit Panzano, a home assistant who worked for the couple for over 20 years visits Antó, said: “She is like a daughter to us.

“I come as often as I can and will keep doing so as long as my body allows me.

“If I were the sick one, she would do the same thing for me, and then some,” Antó lovingly said.

Source: Coast Reporter


The Euro Weekly News is running a campaign to help reunite Brits in Spain with their family and friends by capping the costs of PCR tests for travel. Please help us urge the government to cap costs at https://euroweeklynews.com/2021/04/16/ewn-champions-the-rights-of-brits-in-spain-to-see-loved-ones-again/

Written by

Laura Kemp

Originally from UK, Laura is based in Axarquia and is a writer for the Euro Weekly News covering news and features. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

Comments