Date Published: 07/12/2020
ARCHIVED - Travel restrictions between municipalities lifted from Wednesday 9th in Murcia Region
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
Good news for everywhere except Los Alcázares and Torre Pacheco
At last some good news for the retail sector in the region of Murcia following the decision of the Covid Monitoring Committee on Monday to remove the restriction on travel between municipalities for everywhere except Los Alcázares and Torre Pacheco.
Unfortunately, residents must remain within the municipal borders of just these two locations for a further week due to the high level of coronavirus cases.
However, bars and restaurants in both Torre Pacheco and Los Alcázares will be permitted to re-open their external terraces to 75% of capacity, but may not serve food or drinks inside at the moment.
In all remaining municipalities residents may now move between the internal borders of the region.
However, the external perimeter border of the Murcia Region will remain closed, with entry and exit only permitted for ESSENTIAL REASONS. These do NOT include popping over to Alicante Province for a round of golf or for a spot of shopping; pick-ups and drop offs at the airport are permitted, but it is highly advisable to print off documentation as justification for the journey.
Foreign travellers will no doubt want to know if they are allowed to cross the border and enter the Murcia Region for a holiday and the answer to that is no, as the regional president indicated today that he intends to maintain the external border closure until after the 6th January when the holiday period ends. However, and it’s a big however, the borders are being opened between December 23rd and January 6th across Spain to permit family visits but NOT for leisure trips or holidays.
Regions such as Madrid and Barcelona have already expressed their disquiet with this situation and quite rightly highlighted that it is impossible to stop every vehicle containing a family and suitcases and verify whether they are visiting a relative somewhere or going to a holiday home.
There have been many reports on social media of international travellers successfully reaching their holiday homes without being stopped by police or asked to justify how essential their journey is, so it’s up to individual travellers entirely whether they wish to take the risk of flying to Spain to travel to a holiday property this winter, now that the UK Govt. has removed the ban on travelling. Obviously it’s not a very clever idea to be contemplating holiday travel while the world is immersed in a pandemic, and the regional government does not want people entering the region from outside, and that includes from other countries, but there are some people desperate to get to their properties who consider the risk of a minimum 601 euro fine worth taking , even after paying for PCR tests.
Interiors of bars and restaurants permitted to open elsewhere
The improving situation in the region will now permit the gradual re-opening of interior areas of bars and restaurants, the percentage of capacity determined by the current accumulated incidence rate.
This varies between 30% and 75% of the capacity of the premises
30% of internal capacity:
Aledo, Albudeite, Yecla, Abanilla, Calasparra, Totana, Puerto Lumbreras, San Javier, Alhama de Murcia, Cehegín, Archena, San Pedro del Pinatar and Jumilla. In all of these localitions the incidence rate is considered to be very high (between 250 and 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants).
50% of internal capacity:
Mazarrón, Alguazas, Villanueva, Caravaca, Cieza, Lorca, Fuente Álamo, Ricote, Aguilas, Cartagena, Pliego, Santomera, Blanca, Ceutí, Fortuna, Murcia, Ulea, Molina de Segura, Alcantarilla, La Unión, Las Torres de Cotillas and Moratalla.
In these areas the incidence rate is between 75 and 250 cases per 100,000
75% of internal capacity:
Beniel, Abarán, Bullas, Mula, Librilla, Lorquí, Ojós and Campos del Río.
The situation will once again be reviewed next Monday.