A woman from Mallorca in Dubai: "Life goes on as if nothing has changed, I've been to the beach these past few days"

PorreresMaria Bel Sorell Pou, originally from Porreres, has been living in Meydan, Dubai, for a year. She works there and intends to return despite the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East. "I have a ticket to come to Porreres for Easter and then return to Dubai after the holidays, if the war allows it, of course," she says in a message that conveys the calm with which she has experienced these days of international uncertainty. She works on marketing projects, photography, online communication, and branding, and specializes in social media management and creating campaigns for luxury hotels, restaurants, and events. She will remember the start of the conflict precisely because of the lack of perceived danger she experienced. "A friend of mine from Spain said to me, 'Have you seen the news?' And since I was working, he couldn't give me many details. My first reaction was to check if everyone in Mallorca was okay or if anything had happened in Spain, but I didn't see anything," she explains.

The first news came from a mobile phone alarm from the government of the United Arab Emirates: "It's an alarm from Dubai's emergency and security mobile phones telling us to go inside our homes and get out of the windows, but other than that, nothing else."

"My colleagues in the Marina and Palm areas, which were the most affected, told me they were very nervous because they were advised to go down to the underground parking garages, and their cell phone alarms were going off a lot. I also woke up to the noise on the second day."

Regarding the alerts, she points out that "they recommend we don't stay outside too much or near the windows, but they have made it clear that the noises we hear are the result of the armed forces here destroying the missiles and drones that haven't flown by, but they haven't said so, which doesn't mean they haven't."

After the initial shock, Maria Bel is taking the situation in stride, with some caveats: "It's true that work has slowed down in certain sectors." In my case, for example, I had some projects planned for the weekend, and they've been postponed."

One of the things that has caught the attention of the woman from Porreres is that "the political class, the country's leaders, have made many public appearances, in shopping centers, they go out to dinner in public places and are seen among the citizens in different parts of the city to set an example and send a message of calm. Everyone is doing it."

Even so, she understands that some people might be a little nervous, but she hasn't become anxious and doesn't think there's any reason to be, because "life goes on as if nothing has changed." "I've been to the beach these past few days, to shopping centers, and they're packed."

Along the same lines, she says she's been surprised by the open and constant communication between the administration and all citizens, concluding, "They make us feel incredibly safe."

She explains that "the Spanish embassy gives us messages translated into Spanish in case someone doesn't understand English, and they provide helpline numbers in case anyone needs it or is nervous. They've also set up a psychological support service that the government provides. The government here keeps us informed at all times about which official information channels we should follow, including social media, the internet, and television, because there's a lot of news." fake And they emphasize that we only trust official sources."

This message has resonated with the population: "Most people, not everyone, are very calm and we have 100% confidence in the country. I don't know how they do it, but they convey security and the confidence that we are protected. I don't think any other country in the world could have reacted as well as this country has, and no other will be as safe as this one under such a complicated situation. It's impressive."

She feels so safe that she hasn't considered returning to Spain. Well, at least she won't return out of fear; if anything, it will be to eat bread: "I have a ticket to come for Easter, and my plan is to return here after the holidays."

"We are privileged."

He's living with the situation so normally that, in fact, the only thing that worries him "is that my family and friends are worried, because I'm not worried at all. People here aren't worried either. It's not a pleasant situation, but we're privileged because we have food, we have water, we have hot water to shower, we have a bed. We're like neighboring countries, and people further away are going through much harder times and situations, and I don't think it's fair that people are making a fuss considering that in Dubai we're privileged and can live our lives normally. I think we should be very aware that there are people who don't even have water."

'Fake News'

He continues with this well-rehearsed speech: "While it's true that hearing the explosions isn't pleasant, I find it in very bad taste that some people are inventing fake news, exaggerating the situation, because we're all aware that we're in the middle of a war that hasn't even started yet, but there's no need to make those of us who aren't here nervous, because we're not very nervous here. Spain and other countries invent and exaggerate because, obviously, since pity sells, they give that sensationalist spin to the people who are crying, and that's not reality, because here we live completely normal lives, taking into account the exceptional situation we're aware of, but we live a peaceful life."