Dutch visitors flock this week to Belgium to avoid the lockdown imposed in their country, where cafes, restaurants and unnecessary shops were closed, while still open on the other side of the border.
In Antwerp, in northwestern Belgium, traders confirm that Dutch tourists have been arriving en masse since December 19th, after the start of the lockdown decided by the Dutch government, to stop the resurgence of the pandemic coronavirus and the dispersion of the Omicron variant.
“In recent days, the majority of my clients have been Dutch. This is very good for our business! “There are a lot of people, we have customers,” said Marie, an ice cream vendor.
“I came here to go shopping and drink coffee”
“I came here to go shopping and drink coffee,” he saidwhich is impossible to do in the Netherlands at the moment, said smiling Emma, ​​a Dutch tourist. In her country, all unnecessary shops, restaurants, bars, cinemas, museums and theaters will be closed until January 14.
Instead, shops will remain open in Belgium, while cafes and restaurants will close earlier, at 23.00 local time.
“We just wanted to get out of the lockdown. “Everything is closed in the Netherlands, there is nothing to do and we are also on holiday. We would say it is more likeable in Belgium,” explains Charleig, a 20-year-old woman.
Many Dutch people have chosen to travel by road or train to Germany, where restrictions are also less stringent and to northern Belgium, according to Belgian media.
The Dutch railway company NS announced that it had mobilized additional staff and planned additional routes to meet the demand: “Trains are always full, sometimes at a point where we have to leave passengers at the dock,” he said in a press release.
“We do not recommend going to Belgium by train in the coming days”
“We do not recommend going to Belgium by train in the next few days, unless absolutely necessary. “Because of the traffic, it is impossible to maintain an adequate social distance,” NS warned in a Twitter message.
“We are told not to come unless necessary. And we say: yes, it is necessary for our mental health to come here! “, Answers Bastian, a tourist who arrived in Antwerp today.
According to the Belgian news agency Belga, about 7,600 Dutch people went by train to Antwerp yesterday, at a time when the roads are full, forcing the authorities to mobilize the police today to ensure the safety of visitors and to regulate traffic.
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