Tourists should wear face masks indoors in Spain during the Easter holidays. It was thought that face masks could be removed at any time in the UK’s favorite destination with sunshine in time for the first busy holiday season of the year. However, Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias told regional officials on Wednesday that the government had no plans to approve the lifting of their mandatory status in public places such as restaurants and hotels by April 19. Their mandatory use indoors is expected to end between April 21 and 22, when the new decision will be published in the Official Gazette of the State. They are expected to remain mandatory after this date only in hospitals, nursing homes and public transport.
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Easter Sunday this year falls on April 17 and most British families going to Spain this year will have returned home until the new rules for face masks come into force. Face masks became mandatory in all public places in Spain on May 20 two years ago, with their mandatory use outdoors being lifted only in February after the reintroduction of restrictions around Christmas. Addressing members of the left-wing PSOE party earlier this month, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said: “We have the lowest cumulative coronavirus rate in Europe at the moment and very soon, very soon, when our Minister of Health says so. It will be able to remove the mandatory condition of face masks indoors “. Experts in areas such as the Costa Blanca, which includes the popular Benidorm holiday resort, have reacted by setting a schedule of between three and five weeks. The use of a face mask in public places indoors in Spain remains the most visible sign of the coronavirus pandemic. Almost all the other restrictions that came into force at the height of the health crisis have already been lifted. Some experts said they would prefer to see the current rules for face masks remain in force until after the summer. The move to expel them from most parts of everyday life will be welcomed by many parents whose young children had to wear them to school for hours non-stop for the last two years. Many Spaniards still use them outdoors, although they are not required to do so.
