News
The people’s paper ISSUE NO. 1833
20 - 26 Aug 2020
COSTA BLANCA SOUTH • WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM
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RESTRICTIONS RETURN THE growing number o f c o ro n a v i r u s o u t b re a k s i n S p a i n h a s l e d o ff i c i a l s t o t a k e m e a s u re s t h a t w i l l have a huge impact on businesses throughout the country. Last Friday, August 14 according to El País, Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa announced that all establishments, such as bars and restaurants would have to close at 1am, with no new patrons allowed to enter from midnight onwards. And nightclubs, discos and similar establishments have been ordered to close for the foreseeable future. Another measure announced by Illa was a blanket ban across Spain of smoking in public if a twometre distance cannot be maintained between a smoker and other people. Illa also said that bars and restaurants would need to guarantee a minimum safe
CLOSED DOORS: Only the strong will survive, but at what cost? distance of 1.5 metres between patrons at the bar and when they are eating at a table. The maximum number of diners will be limited to 10 at a table or gathering. The new measures were announced after Euro Weekly News was accused of scaremongering last week after it carried a report in good faith on the EWN website regarding Spain’s Covid-19 plans for the immediate future should the rise of new cases
continue to escalate. The report, which said that Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was set to lockdown Spain once again from Friday, September 18, was published after a chance meeting with a freelance reporter and two gentleman who identified themselves as government bodies. Government officials later challenged the veracity of the report, but would not say what was wrong with it, choosing no further com-
ment as a reply. As a result of that report, EWN also found itself at the sharp end of a concerted social media attack. People insisted that it was ‘fake news’ that would exacerbate problems already making life difficult for business owners. The attacks were made both professionally and personally to members of staff. We at EWN strive for accuracy at all times and share people’s anger and frustration, especially if we ourselves are misinformed, particularly in these rapidly changing and extremely distressing times. That said, we would be
failing in our duty of care to our readers if we were to underplay the seriousness of the pandemic in Spain. It is far from over. Health Minister Illa was quoted in the El País report as saying: ‘There has been a growing number of outbreaks in recent weeks.’ Illa was speaking to journalists after having held an emergency meeting with health officials from Spain’s regions, which have been in charge of their own coronavirus measures ever since the State of Alarm, implemented by the central government back in March, came to an end.
His press conference was held after the latest figures released by the Health Ministry last Thursday showed a worsening situation. Spain’s regions reported a total of 2,953 new Covid19 infections detected in the previous 24 hours, and added a total of 7,550 confirmed cases from previous dates. Not since the worst moments of the crisis in Spain, back in April, have infection rates been so high. We have to work together in unity to ensure the continuation of our lives in Spain. The Publishers Michel & Steven Euesden