Latest: Coronavirus in Spain figures (11 Oct)
As the fifth wave of Coronavirus finally appears to be under control in Spain, most regions have started to lift nearly all of their remaining restrictions – with the capital of Madrid now becoming ‘a step away’ from how things were before the pandemic.
From this Monday 4 October, there will be no further capacity restrictions on any food or entertainment venues in the Madrid region, with the new measure applying to bars, restaurants, nightclubs, cinemas, theatres, multi-use venues and sports centres.
‘Starting this Monday, we are going to remove all capacity restrictions and we are practically one step away from returning to the way things were before the pandemic,’ said Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Madrid regional government.
The face mask regulations remain in force, however, meaning that all those over the age of six in Madrid will still have to wear masks inside at venues, except when eating or drinking in bars and restaurants. As elsewhere in Spain, citizens can remove face masks outdoors when they can maintain a safe distance.
‘We are a region that fortunately has combined the most important things that are life and health with the economy; this has placed us in a privileged situation,’ Ayuso said, defending her decision to relax Covid measures. The regional president has also confirmed that Madrid has already recovered ‘all the jobs that had been lost during the pandemic’.
Since 20 September, there have been no restrictions on the opening hours of venues in Madrid, but capacity had still been limited to 75%. Bars and restaurants had also had a six-person limit on tables indoors and 10-person limit outdoors. From Monday, however, with all food and entertainment venues able to open at full capacity again, there will also no longer be restrictions on how many people are allowed at tables. Bar counter service will also be allowed, as long as patrons are seated.
The president of the Andalusian government, Juan Manuel Moreno, said that half the region was set to enter level zero on the Coronavirus alert system on Friday, meaning restrictions on capacity and opening hours in bars and restaurants would also be lifted. In municipalities on level one, establishments must still close at 2am and nightlife venues at 3.30am, and the maximum number of people allowed to a table being 10 outdoors and eight indoors.
In Catalonia, meanwhile, authorities further eased some restrictions on Thursday, allowing 10 people to be seated at tables indoors, an increase from six. The Catalan government also said it was ‘closer’ to re-opening nighttime venues, indicating that it could take place in ‘the coming weeks’.
In the meantime, the rest of the Covid-19 restrictions have been extended one more week in Catalonia, with bars and restaurants among other activities allowed to serve customers until 1 am and outdoor areas in clubs and other late-night venues allowed to open until 3 am.
The further relaxing of restrictions in some regions also comes as Spain’s authorities allowed football stadiums to be at full capacity from this weekend. Capacity for open-air sporting events can be at 100% and at 80% for indoor events from 1 October until at least 31 October. Also read: Spain allows stadiums to be at full capacity again for outdoor sports events.
Latest figures show that Spain has administered 70,153,507 jabs of the Covid vaccine. 36,667,138 people have now been fully vaccinated, which is 77.3% of the total population. Also read: Covid-19 Vaccinations in Spain.
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