ARCHIVED - Murcian Health Minister not keen to open regional boundary for Easter week

Semana Santa is traditionally the first major holiday week of the year and millions of Spaniards would travel to visit family or take a break

With just a month to go until the start of Semana Santa, which in “normal” circumstances is marked by street processions and festivities all over Spain in the days prior to Easter Sunday, one of the hottest topics throughout the country at present is what anti-pandemic measures might still be in place during the school holidays which traditionally welcome in the spring.

Over the last month the 14-day coronavirus infection rate in Spain has dropped from its third-wave peak of 899 cases per 100,000 inhabitants to just over 200, but this is still at a level categorized by the health authorities as “very high”. Repeated calls for a cautious approach are being made but all over the country regional governments are relaxing the restrictions on socializing and travel, and it is now being speculated that it may be possible for people to travel all over the country by the end of March.

If this were the case, it would doubtless signal the partial reactivation of the tourism sector as although the Semana Santa processions will not be held this year, many would find it difficult to resist the temptation to flock to the Costas!

However, in the case of the Costa Cálida, the regional government of Murcia is currently opposed to permitting travel into and out of the Region. Such travel was permitted at Christmas and now, with the benefit if of hindsight, it can be seen that this was a mistake, contributing to the severity of the third wave of infection.

In Murcia the situation has improved in recent weeks to the extent that people are now allowed to cross the boundaries of all 45 municipalities in the Region of Murcia with the exceptions of Ulea and Alhama, but the boundary of the Region itself has theoretically been closed since 30th October, barring the partial lifting of the travel ban over Christmas and the New Year.

The national Minister for Health, Carolina Darias, is attempting to establish a single protocol for Easter to be applied to all 17 regions of Spain, but in the meantime her counterpart in the Murcia government, Juan José Pedreño, has expressed his personal opinion that this restriction on inter-regional travel should be maintained. At the same time, though, he recognizes that the decision will be based not on his individual opinion but on the advice of the Covid Monitoring Committee and the epidemiological data.

In principle, Fernando Simón, the Director of the Coordination Centre for Health Alerts and Emergencies, shares Sr Pedreño’s view, although he too says that it is too early to say what the situation will be in the Region of Murcia in a month’s time.