Latest: Coronavirus in Spain figures (20 Aug)
Report below last updated 26 July 2021.
With the Covid-19 incidence rate continuing to rise in Spain – currently at 677 according to the central Health Ministry’s figures released on 23 July – many regions across the country have been imposing new restrictions, or further extending the measures currently in place.
Below is a summary of the current key restrictions for each region. As always, we will endeavour to update the information as soon as official measures are announced. In the meantime, please also consider supporting Spain in English with a donation. For full details of the progress of Spain’s vaccination programme for each region, also read: Covid-19 Vaccinations in Spain
Andalusia
The Junta de Andalucía has finally decided not to request a curfew between 2am-7am. On Tuesday, however, it had planned to request it for municipalities with more than 5,000 inhabitants that have a cumulative incidence at 14 days of more than 1,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, which currently number 26.
Therefore, Andalusia maintains nightlife venues open until 2am, with bars and restaurants until 1am, although it does limit the hours on beaches, which are closed from 11pm to 7am for those municipalities in alert levels 2, 3 and 4. In addition, on Wednesday the same time restrictions apply in recreational establishments and theme parks. Also, citizens are recommended to set the maximum for private meetings at 10 people.
From 22 July, only four people per table are allowed to sit inside at bars and restaurants. Also from this date people have to register for nightlife venues. Other measures include:
- Interiors of bars and restaurants are limited to 75% capacity for places in level 1. For places in levels 2 and 3, it is reduced to 50% capacity. Interiors must close by 1am with no new clients from midnight.
- 100% capacity allowed on terraces.
- Nightlife venues can open until 2am.
- Cultural venues can open to 85% capacity for places in level 1, 75% capacity for places in level 2 and 60% capacity for places in level 3.
Click here for the Junta de Andalucía’s interactive map for the Covid levels and level status for each area, and for latest full measures published in the Boletín Oficial de la Junta de Andalucía (BOJA).
Aragón
The regional government of Aragón has considered it necessary to apply a nighttime curfew from 1am-6am in municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants that exceed a 7-day incidence of 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and in which there is community transmission. At the moment, the order will only affect Jaca, Huesca, Monzón and Barbastro. It awaits court approval.
In the rest of the region, the hospitality and nightlife must close by half past midnight, although the admission of customers can only be until midnight. The capacity remains the same, 100% on the terrace in groups of maximum 10 people and 50% indoors in groups of six, and consumption in the bar is not allowed.
In mass events, a maximum of 250 people indoors and 500 outdoors, respecting the social distancing. The capacity in shops, swimming pools, shops and places of worship remains at 75%
Asturias
Asturias is seeking court approval for a nighttime curfew in the highest risk municipalities, from between 1am to 6am. In those same municipalities, groups of people will also be restricted to six indoors and ten outdoors and the holding of mass events will be limited.
Last week, nightlife in the region was closed again. The measure came into effect on the 13 July at midnight for 14 days, and is renewable. The sale of alcohol is also banned at gas stations and retail stores from 10pm to 6am, during the same period.
Balearic Islands
The courts of the Balearic Islands have endorsed the prohibition from Saturday 24 July of social gatherings both indoors and outdoors of people who do not live together between 1am-6am, where the cumulative incidence over 14 days exceeds 450 cases, but the mandatory use of face mask outdoors will not be enforced.
This applies to the islands of Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca. There is a similar ban for Formentera from 2am to 6am. The restriction has been approved for one month.
The Government has also toughened the sanctions for those who participate in botellons (street drinking parties) which could reach 5,000 euros if a person with a positive PCR test is participating. Sanctions have also been tightened for establishments that sell alcohol outside the permitted hours and for promoters of illegal parties.
From 22 July on Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza, restaurants have to close at 1am and the number of people per table outdoors is reduced to eight outdoors and four indoors. The capacity for cultural events is also reduced and beaches will be closed from 10pm to 6am.
Basque Country
The Basque government has announced a tightening of the current restrictions against Covid, without asking for a nighttime curfew. With them, the bars and restaurants must now close from 1am, instead of 2am, when most other activities also end.
There will be a ‘daily’ evaluation of measures in the face of a very ‘changing’ situation. As for audiences at activities, there will be 400 indoors and 600 outdoors in the case of cultural, sporting or similar events, although there may be 600 and 800 in larger venues.
- Bars and restaurants can open until 1am with a maximum capacity limit of 50% indoors.
- Consumption at the bar is not allowed.
- You are not allowed to meet with those you don’t live with between midnight and 6am in areas such as parks and beaches.
- Nightlife venues can still open until 2am, but no dancing will be allowed.
Canary Islands
The Government of the Canary Islands has raised Tenerife to alert level 4 – the most restrictive of all those in the archipelago – due to the worsening of its epidemiological situation. Among the new restrictions, the maximum number of non-cohabitating people who can meet in public and private spaces is limited to two and nightlife is closed. The measures for levels 1-2 are as follows:
Level 1 – Restaurants and bars must close by 2am. There is 100% capacity allowed on terraces and 75% inside. 10 people per table allowed outside, six per table inside, and four at the bar. Up to 10 people can meet at a time. Nightlife venues can open to a capacity of 50% until 2am. Dancing is not allowed.
Level 2 – Bars and restaurants can open until midnight. 75% capacity limit outside and a 50% inside. Six per table are allowed on the terrace and four per table inside. Up to six people can meet at a time.
Level 3 – Bars and restaurants can open until midnight. The interiors can open to 50% capacity, providing that 10% of the customers have been vaccinated against Covid-19. Four are allowed per table if they’ve not been inoculated and six per table if they have. There is a 75% capacity limit on the terraces. Up to four people can meet at a time. Beaches are parks are closed from 10pm-6am.
Cantabria
The court has given the green light for a nighttime curfew from 1am to 6am, in more than half of the Cantabrian municipalities, specifically 53 towns, for an initial period of 14 days. The measure came into force on 17 July, although the regional government has already announced its intention to request another 14-day extension.
The Superior Court of Justice of Cantabria (TSJC) has also endorsed the restriction to groups of a maximum of six people who do not live together in public and private spaces. The sale of alcohol is banned in retail establishments and gas stations after 8pm.
Castilla-La Mancha
Castilla-La Mancha is currently the region with the best incidence rate in Spain and there are currently no more restrictions other than:
- Bars and restaurants can stay open until 2am. 75% capacity inside and 100% capacity on terraces. Eating or drinking at the bar is not allowed and up to 10 can sit at each table.
- Nightlife venues can open until 3am to a capacity of 75% inside and 100% outside. Dancing is not allowed inside and there is no bar service.
- Shops have no restrictions and markets can open to 75% capacity.
Castilla y León
Castilla y León announced new measures this week, including no consumption at bars and only at tables, and without exceeding 75% capacity. The limit is 10 people per table.
Bars close at 1.30am and cannot admit customers beyond 1am, except for home delivery services or collection. The interiors of night clubs are closed, but outside areas can stay open until 2am at 75% capacity.
Public parks are also closed between midnight and 7am. These measures are for a period of 14 days subject to review.
Catalonia
ALSO READ: Curfew confirmed for 161 towns and cities in Catalonia [now 165], including Barcelona
The Catalan court has now authorised a nighttime curfew between 1am-6am until 30 July to try to stop the increase in infections. It is likely to be extended at least a further week. The measure now extends to a total of 165 municipalities, four more than the first week, and more than six million Catalans, 80% of the population, will be affected. The courts have also endorsed the extension for seven days of the limitation of meetings to 10 people and the closure of all activities at half-past midnight.
The Catalan government spokesperson, Patrícia Plaja, warned residents of the region on Thursday that Covid-19 restrictions would be in place for the whole of the summer, given the forecast that pressure on hospitals is likely to continue to increase in the coming weeks. ‘We are far from being able to relax,’ she said.
Plaja said that the curfew would be reviewed ‘from week to week’ to avoid ‘normalising’ a restriction that ‘violates fundamental rights’. For the last two weeks, all non-essential activity in Catalonia has had to end at 3am, social meetings are limited to 10 people, and the use of face masks is recommended at all times.
Other restrictions include:
- Negative Covid test or proof of vaccination needed to take part in outdoor activities involving more than 500 people.
- All business activities must end at half-past midnight.
- A maximum of 10 people can meet in public or private.
- The interior of bars and restaurants can open to 50% capacity. Up to six people are allowed at tables indoors and up to 10 outdoors. Bars and restaurants must close by half-past midnight.
- Gyms and swimming pools can open to 70% capacity and can stay open until 1am.
- Beaches and parks will be close from half-past midnight until 6am.
- Shops and cultural venues can open to 70 percent capacity.
Extremadura
Click here for our ‘Extremadura in English’ home page.
Latest: Extremadura in English weekly news round-up (26 July)
The Junta de Extremadura is seeking judicial authorisation to proceed with the perimeter closure of the towns of Cabezuela del Valle, Puebla de Sancho Pérez, Almoharín, Ceclavín, Puebla de la Calzada, Talavera la Real, Calamonte, Castuera and Guareña.
These localities are at a ‘very high’ risk situation of an increase in Covid cases, according to the authorities. The perimeter closure will last for 14 days, reviewable after 7 days. Other restrictions include:
- Bars and restaurants can open until 3am. 50% capacity limit inside with 10 people allowed per table and an 85% capacity limit on the terraces. Consuming at the bar is allowed.
- Up to 10 people can meet at a time.
- Nightlife venues can open until 3am with a capacity of 50%.
- Cultural venues can open to 50%.
- Shopping malls can open to 40%.
Galicia
The president of the Galician Xunta, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, announced this week that he is seeking court approval to restrict meetings to no more than six people indoors and ten outdoors, no meetings of non-cohabitants between 1am-6am in the municipalities with the highest incidence rate, and in others no meetings between 3am-6m.
The regional government has also decided that from Saturday 24 July, a vaccination certificate or negative Covid test will be needed to enter indoor spaces of bars and restaurants in 36 municipalities, including Vigo, Ourense, Pontevedra, O Grove and Sanxenxo. This requirement, also introduced in France and Greece, was already being applied in nightlife establishments across the region.
Regional authorities have also closed nightlife venues in municipalities with a high incidence rates – a measure that affects 35% of the Galician population (nearly one million people).
La Rioja
The regional government of La Rioja is currently not considering a nighttime curfew or proposing new restrictions to stop the pandemic. Current measures include:
- Level 1 areas – the interiors of bars and restaurants can operate to 75% capacity with six per table. No capacity limit on the terraces. Nightlife venues can open.
- Level 2 areas – bars and restaurants can open to 75% capacity indoors and 100% on the terraces, but must close by 1am. Nightlife venues can open.
- Level 3 ares – bars and restaurants can operate at 50% capacity indoors and 100% capacity on terraces, but must close by midnight. Nightlife venues cannot open.
Madrid
Madrid is currently not imposing new restrictions. ‘No, not yet. We are doing well for now,’ the president of the regional government, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, said last week. The objective of the regional government is, for now, ‘to continue promoting campaigns’ to raise awareness among young people and continue with the vaccination rollout ‘as up to now’.
Murcia
Murcia has limited public and private meetings to a maximum of 10 people, both indoors and outdoors. In addition, in all the municipalities of the region the sale of alcohol in shops and gas stations is prohibited between 10pm and 6am.
These measures are in addition to the one already approved to suspend activity inside nightlife venues.
In addition, capacity inside bars and restaurants is 30% for those municipalities that are at alert level 3, where celebrations are also limited to a maximum of 30 people indoors and 60 on the terrace, provided that 30 and 50% of the capacity are not exceeded, respectively.
The court has also backed the Murcia government’s decision to set a 10-person limit on social gatherings between people from different households. The measure will be in place until 3 August, unless authorities decide to modify or cancel it before that date.
Navarra
The court in Navarra has now accepted the nighttime curfew for weekends and holidays that the regional government of María Chivite proposed after the court refused to apply it every day in municipalities of ‘extreme risk;. The curfew will take effect at midnight on Friday 23 July and will last initially until midnight on 30 July.
From this weekend, municipalities at extreme risk, with an incidence rate in the last 14 days higher than 250 cases per 100,000 inhabitants or 150 cases in the last seven days, will see nighttime circulation limited from 1am-6am. This restriction will also coincide with official holiday dates in all the Navarran towns, regardless of their incidence rate of Covid-19.
Valencia region
Click here for our ‘Valencia in English’ home page and ‘Valencia in English’ report (25 July)
The court in Valencia has authorised to limit social and family gatherings to a maximum of 10 people throughout the region, in addition to the nighttime curfew between 1am and 6am in the 77 towns (up from 32) of more than 5,000 inhabitants that show a greater epidemiological risk from Covid. The measures are in force until 16 August. ALSO READ our reports Valencia in English (12 July) and (18 July).
Among the towns and cities included affected are the three provincial capitals: Alicante, Valencia and Castellón. Also:
- In Alicante province: Alfàs del Pi, Banyeres de Mariola, Benidorm, Callosa d’En Sarrià, Callosa de Segura, Calp, Dénia, Gata de Gorgos, La Nuncia, Muro de Alcoy, Ondara, Pego, Santa Pola, Sant Vicent del Raspeig, Sax, Teulada and Vila Joiosa
- In Castellón province: Alcalà de Xivert, Almenara, Benicàssim, Borriana, Borriol, Onda, Oropesa del Mar, Peníscola, Torreblanca, Vila-real and Vinaròs
- In Valencia province: Albal, Alboraya, Alcàsser, Aldaia, Alfafar, Alginet, Almussafes, Benaguasil, Benetússer, Benifaió, Bétera, Buñol, Burjassot, Canals, Chiva, Foios, Gandia, Godella, L’Eliana, L’Olleria, Manises, Massamagrell, Massanassa, Mel iana, Mislata, Museros, Oliva, Paiporta, Paterna, Picassent, Pobla de Farnals, Pobla de Vallbona, Puçol, Puig, Rafelbunyol, Requena, Riba-roja de Túria, Rocafort, Sagunto, Silla, Sueca, Tavernes de la Valldigna, Turís, Utiel, València, Vilamarxant, Xeraco and Xirivella.
Click here for all previous reports on: Coronavirus in Spain
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