Spain was one of the most affected countries at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak and one of the first to adopt more hard-line social distancing measures. News has begun circulating that from this week Spain will introduce the first phase of their social easing program.
Details released via The Local advise that starting from Monday, May 11th Spain will be allowing restaurants and bars with terraces will be permitted to open at 50% of their capacity. Although this may seem like a step in the right direction venue owners have voiced their concerns that even this may be potentially financially unfeasible. As part of the 4 phase plan, this will mean a maximum of 30 people for indoor venues that usually have a full capacity of 90 people or more and open-air events will be open to a maximum of 200 people. As with any of these proposed introductions, this will be on a case by case basis, each venue will be fully seated and social distancing rules are mandatory. While this stage of easing has already begun being implemented in Balearics and Canaries where cases are at a much lower rate than mainland Spain it will be some time before hotspots such as Ibiza are back to what we remember them as last season.
Phase 2 is expected to begin as early as Monday, May 25th, and will see indoor concerts opening at a third of their normal capacity with a maximum of 50 attendees. Open-air events will also see a rise in capacity with up to 400 permitted to attend and outdoor events. This stage will also see the reopening of cinemas, theatres, and art galleries at a reduced capacity. The final stage of this advanced easing on Monday, June 8th will mean bars and clubs will reopen at a 3rd of their capacity, indoor events will have a capacity of 80 people and outdoor events will see a capacity of 800 people. For a country that has endured a long period of the lockdown, the easing will come as a bittersweet victory, just don’t make any plans just yet to book your tickets as the proposed easing is not fully confirmed.
