Date Published: 07/05/2021
ARCHIVED - The six-month pandemic curfew and inter-regional travel ban in Murcia end on Saturday night
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
The Murcia government grudgingly accepts the end of the national state of emergency
70,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses “waiting in the fridge” says the regional president
After weeks of debate and uncertainty over what pandemic restrictions would be in place in the Region of Murcia after the national state of emergency comes to an end at midnight on Saturday, the regional government almost grudgingly announced on Friday that the curfew will be lifted and the ban on inter-regional travel will cease as of Sunday.
This is good news for residents of both the Murcia region and Alicante province who have been itching to be let loose on the golf courses and shopping centres of their neighbouring region, as well as all those desperate to visit friends and family on either side of the regional divide.
The government and its president Fernando López Miras have repeatedly stated that it was their intention to maintain these precautions for a few weeks more, at least until 90 per cent of people in their sixties have received a first dose of the coronavirus vaccines, but the decision has been made given the continuing lack of clarity over whether such restrictions would be permitted by Spain’s Supreme Court. Earlier this week the national government introduced legislation to the effect that the Supreme Court would have the final word on such matters, but the considered opinion is that given the continuing relatively low Covid incidence rates in Murcia (currently the third lowest in the country’s 17 regions) it is unlikely that any bid to maintain the curfew and the travel ban would meet with approval.
Thus ends a period of confinement for the Region of Murcia which began on 30th October 2020, six months during which people have not been allowed out of their homes at night and travel into and out of the Region has been limited only to those with adequate justification for breaking the general rule.
At the same time as abandoning the curfew and the travel ban, the Murcia government has also raised the limit of people gathering from different households from four to six. The same applies to both indoor and outdoor tables in bars, cafeterias and restaurants.
Among the remaining restrictions, non-essential businesses (including bars and restaurants) are obliged to remain closed between midnight and 6.00 in the morning, attendance in places of worship is limited to 75 per cent of capacity and a maximum of 50 people is established for religious services including Holy Mass. The same limit applies to open-air celebrations such as weddings and communions, rising to 100 people in outdoor spaces.
In announcing the changes, Sr López Miras lamented the fact that it has been made so difficult to prolong the measures which have proved effective in combating the pandemic, and added that over the coming weeks the situation could be altered in individual municipalities if the situation makes it appropriate to do so. Restrictions can still be applied in municipalities with 14-day incidence rates of over 250 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, or when a week-on-week rise of 80 per cent or more is reported.
At the same time, he reiterated his hope that permission will be granted to administer the second AstraZeneca vaccine dose to those aged under 60 who received the first in April, stating that there are “70,000 Astra Zeneca doses waiting in the fridge”.
Nothing was mentioned about Murcia having one of the lowest (and slowest) vaccination rates in the country at the moment.