ARCHIVED - Spanish authorities reviewing coronavirus restrictions as Christmas approaches

The Minister for Health warns that the coming festive season will be a Christmas like no other

Almost two weeks have passed since the 17 regional governments of Spain introduced more stringent measures to curb the spread of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, and with a long holiday weekend in early December and the Christmas holidays fast approaching the regional authorities and the national government will be deciding next week how the restrictions might be modified as the festive season draws nearer.

Chief among the issues to be taken into account are questions such as how to make it possible for the elderly to celebrate with their families, how to allow university students to travel home and in what ways the inevitable Christmas and New Year celebrations should be limited, all the while bearing in mind the need to minimize the risk of contagion spreading. On the feast day of the Immaculate Conception on Tuesday 8th December and at Christmas it is also important that worshippers should be able to attend religious services in safe and secure conditions, and once 2021 begins it is of course the fervent hope of children of all ages that the Three Kings will be allowed to make their annual visit to every home in Spain bearing gifts, even if they won´t be parading in the streets this year.

The Inter-Territorial Health Committee decided this Wednesday to create a special group of experts in order to come up with recommendations for the festive season within a week, but the Minister for Health, Salvador Illa, has already warned that the lifting of restrictions before time is not an option.

“Nobody, nobody at all, has talked about relaxing the restrictions or suggested that the battle has been won”, he said, adding that while everyone is in agreement that things are going slightly better all of the regional health ministers were in agreement that it is not yet time to consider lowering their guard.

In this context it is worth mentioning that although the accumulated 14-day Covid incidence rate in Spain has now dropped to 452 per 100,000 inhabitants (635 in the Region of Murcia) the target of 60 is still a long way off. For this reason the Minister insists that although steps might be taken to facilitate family gatherings over the festive season this Christmas will not be like any other: “We can’t act as if nothing is happening, but we can make an effort to establish ways of behaving which make it possible to get through (Christmas) safely”.

But before Christmas is the Puente de la Constitución.

This year the main day falls on Sunday December 6th, so its holiday has been moved to Monday 7th December in many regions.

Monday December 7th, Monday, is a bank Holiday holiday in the following areas of Spain: Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Castilla y León, Extremadura, Madrid, Murcia, Navarra and La Rioja, as well as in the Autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla. In all of these communities there will also be a holiday on December 8th, the Day of the Immaculate Conception.

Although neither the central nor the autonomous governments have yet made an official statement, the director of the Center for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies, Fernando Simón, said at a press conference on Tuesday that these holidays "cannot result in an increase in infections.“

It’s widely expected that the autonomous regional governments will decide to keep their regional "borders" closed to prevent the population moving around the country as this is generally a popular weekend for short breaks, and city dwellers will often head to the coast or holiday homes in country villages, something all of the regional governments are keen to avoid during this period of the covid crisis.

The Valencia Region announced this week that it would be maintaining its perimeter border until at least the 9th December, after the holiday, as have Castilla La Mancha (which borders with Madrid, Valencia, Andalucia and Murcia), Asturias, Cantabria, Basque Country and Navarra. Catalunya has already indicated that it is considering closing its borders and others are likely to follow. On Thursday evening the Region of Murcia was added to this list.

Prior to next week’s meeting Sr Illa was reluctant to offer more details regarding the December holiday weekend and Christmas, although the regions of Catalunya and the Basque Country have already indicated that it is their intention to raise the number of people allowed at gatherings to ten.

There have already been a significant amount of Christmas cancellations, with Three Kings Parades suspended in many major cities and although councils are keen to put up their lights and inject a little festive cheer, seasonal entertainments programmes are expected to err on the side of caution as the whole country is keen to avoid a third wave of covid after the Christmas celebrations.

If you are thinking of travelling to Spain over the festive season, it’s highly advisable to wait a few more days and see what the conclusions are before booking flights, and also to consider the potential situation in the UK or other “home country” as should the current situation not improve, the existing travel ban for non-essential journeys from England for example, may remain in place.

The Minister’s message was far from being packed with festive cheer as he repeated that it would be a mistake to view the recent slight improvement in the coronavirus data with excessive optimism, reminding the country that the situation is “very worrying”.