The people’s paper ISSUE NO. 1865
1 - 7 April 2021
News
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MASK LAW CHANGE
SPAIN’S central government has introduced a new law sur‐ rounding face masks making them mandatory in all public spaces in a move that could pave the way for safer tourism. The law was changed yester‐ day to remove the exemption in a previous regulation which meant masks did not have to be worn outdoors if people could stay at least 1.5 metres apart from each other. Now masks will have to be worn in all public spaces even if people can stay apart from each other, which could include beaches and around pools. While the new law will affect many areas of Spain, Andalucia has had a similar law in effect since last July, meaning that ev‐ eryone in public spaces, except those who are exempt for med‐ ical or other reasons, already have to wear a mask. Andalucia’s law had made an exemption for those lying down near beaches and swimming
MASK WEARING: Could be law on the beach and by a swimming pool.
pools however, while Spain’s new law does not, meaning mask wearing is now mandato‐ ry even on the beach across Spain unless a similar exemp‐ tion is put in place by the gov‐ ernment. Current fines for being found not wearing a mask begin at €100 and can rise to between €601 and €30,000 for more seri‐ ous cases. The move could pave the way for safer tourism this sum‐ mer in popular coastal areas, in‐ cluding towns like Nerja, Mala‐ ga and Marbella which attract an influx of visitors to their beaches each year. Neverthe‐ less, the Minister of Health, Car‐
olina Darias, appeared on Wednesday March 31 after the Interterritorial Council to ex‐ plain that they are working on how to “develop a technical cri‐ teria for the application of the law.” “I hope that between now and the next Interterritorial Council we can find space to be able to apply this law, to do so in the most harmonised way possible and in the most con‐ textualised way possible,” she said. “The mask is obligatory, but we have to study whether the law leaves us room for ma‐ noeuvre,” she added in re‐ sponse to the insistence of questions from journalists.