Wealthier Europeans escape to second homes, stoking fear and anger in smaller communities.

The French island of Noirmoutier last week. Recent arrivals of Parisians led to a backlash.Credit...Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times

Across Europe, affluent city dwellers have been leaving hard-hit cities for their second homes, where proximity to the sea or the mountains lessens the discomfort of confinement. But they also bring fears that they will spread the coronavirus to regions with few hospitals, putting at greater risk local residents who tend to be older and have limited incomes.

The situation has ignited anger over what the pandemic is laying bare every day: the ever widening gap between the rich and the poor.

In Italy, currently the European nation with the most infections and deaths, many people fled south from the hard-hit north, the region first put in lockdown. Though hard figures are unavailable, some officials in the south have attributed new infections to the influx.

In Spain, José María Aznar, the former prime minister, packed his bags for his holiday villa in Marbella, a celebrity resort on the Mediterranean, leaving Madrid on the very day that the capital shut all schools and universities. The move prompted anger and calls to monitor Mr. Aznar and lock him inside his villa.

Spain on Sunday reported a overnight record rise in the number of fatalities — 838 dead — bringing the total to about 6,500 deaths and almost 79,000 registered coronavirus cases, the fourth highest in the world.

And in France — which has 3.4 million second homes, far more than any of its neighbors — some urbanites arrived on the island of Noirmoutier and headed straight to the beach. They were seen picnicking, kite surfing, jogging and biking. In retribution, tires of about half a dozen cars with Paris plates were slashed.

“Their behavior was unacceptable,’’ said Frédéric Boucard, 47, an oyster farmer. “It’s as if they were on vacation.”

Another local, Claude Gouraud, 55, said, “We should have blocked the bridge weeks ago.”

Reference: New York Times