People gather to celebrate on a beach in Barcelona. By midnight on Sunday, a six-month period of severe coronary restrictions for the entire country was over. Photo: Emilio Morenatti / AP / NTB
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Spain has taken an important step towards a more normal everyday life. The national exception period is over, and people can once again travel freely throughout the country.
On a beach in Barcelona, the mood was euphoric when the clock struck midnight and the exemption provisions were lifted on Sunday night.
– It’s like New Year, says Oriol Corbella (28) who participated in the celebration that half a year of strict national infection control restrictions is over.
– We get back some normality, freedom, but we must remember that the virus is still there, he adds.
– Lots of emotions
Recently, many Spaniards became very indignant that foreign tourists could suddenly flock to the country on holiday, while they themselves were not allowed to visit family in other parts of the country.
Now the Spaniards can also go on holiday in their own country.
– I felt frustrated and trapped, without any freedom, says Blaca Valls (46), who next weekend travels to Galicia in the northwest of the country to celebrate a birthday.
Others enjoy being able to travel out of town with friends.
– Just being together, there are lots of emotions, says Argentina Enriques (37), who is a student from Mexico.
—-Festive Spaniards are gathered on a beach in Barcelona to celebrate that it is moving towards more normal times. Photo: Emilio Morenatti / AP / NTB
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Fear more infection
The government’s exemption provisions have made local authorities’ infection control work easier. With the national regulations behind them, they have been able to introduce a curfew in areas with high infection pressure and set strict limits on how many people can meet.
From now on, they need the green light from the courts to introduce measures that interfere so much in people’s privacy.
Regional authorities therefore fear that they will have greater problems limiting the spread of infection. In addition, it has been shown that the courts have reached very different decisions in cases concerning people’s social life and freedom of movement.
Although the government has repealed the exemption provisions, the regions can still impose restrictions on when shops and nightclubs can be open and how many people they can let in.
– No need to relax
For over a year, the Spaniards have had to live with various coronary restrictions. Although many of them are now being repealed, the government is warning people not to relax. The pandemic is by no means over, and there will still be restrictions, warns the government’s corona coordinator Fernando Simon.
“Nothing can be ruled out regarding the development of the pandemic,” he said earlier this week.
Spain has been among Europe’s hardest hit countries during the pandemic with almost 79,000 corona-related deaths and 3.5 million cases of infection.
Infection rates are now stable at the same time as mass vaccination is well underway, which the government believes is a good enough reason to ease the restrictions.
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