Spanish government to lift mandatory use of masks outdoors next week

The use of face masks outdoors as a protection measure against the Covid-19 virus will no longer be mandatory in Spain from next week. 

The decision was announced by the Spanish Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, in an interview with the radio station Ser.

According to Darias, the withdrawal of the mandatory use of the mask outdoors will be approved by a royal decree at the meeting of the Council of Ministers to be held on Tuesday 8 February.

The lifting of this mandatory measure, which has caused much controversy, will first be agreed at the Interterritorial Health Council next Monday, where the health authorities of the central government and the autonomous regions are represented. The next day (Tuesday), the central government will approve its removal from the streets through a Royal Decree.

The decision will enter into force immediately after the publication of the decree in the Spanish State Gazzette (BOE). The publication could take place the following (Wednesday), according to government sources.

Good development

The government imposed the mandatory use of masks outdoors on 22 December, just before Christmas and the explosion of infections in Spain caused by the Omicron variant.

Now, the Spanish authorities consider that it can be lifted due to the good epidemiological evolution of the sixth wave, which shows a clear decrease in all the indicators of the pandemic.