How and under what conditions is it possible to return to habitual residence?

This question is very common in the comments section of our news and we think it is something that needs to be clarified.

Returning to your usual residence is allowed according to the Royal Decree of the state of alarm, but this does not mean that you can go to a friend’s house and risk getting a ticket only on the way out. Because the return home must be justified, as well as the moment in which you left your home.

This implies that if the police are certain that you have skipped the quarantine to visit a friend or relative, they can fine you on your return even if you are “returning to your usual residence”, since you have violated the confinement that still lasts in phase 0 of the de-escalation.

This is why many of you ask us about going home. If you have been confined to another city in the company of family, friends or your partner but for whatever reason you decide to return to your usual home, the authorities have no right to fine you. But you have to be able to justify that you have been confined and abiding by the law.

No matter where you come from and whatever the reasons you have, the state of alarm protects you: If you are returning home and you can justify that you come from being confined in another house, you cannot be fined, even if you cross the peninsula from end to end. Yes, Ideally, you should carry all the possible documentation that confirms your story.

We tell you this because the police may suspect that, if you return from a coastal area to an inland area, you skipped the lockdown to go there previously. Or if it is a transfer within the same city, that you have truly escaped a couple of days to see your partner or family.

So, You should know that if you read that someone has been fined for returning home, it is probably a lie or in any case, actionable: it is most likely that you have been fined for your outward journey, outside the norm. So now you know: if you want to return home after confinement in another home, you can do it without problem … if you did not skip the confinement on the way out and you can prove it.

Can someone come and pick me up to return to my usual residence?

You also ask us a lot. In this case, it is not possible. To return to habitual residence, It must be done independently, either by car or any other available means of transport. This is for the same reason that we have mentioned above: the person who is going to pick you up does not have legal protection to do so, so if they stop you, they will receive a fine.

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