PANDEMIC

Spain lifts mask requirement outdoors as case numbers tick downwards

A woman without a mask walks her bicycle along a street in Seville the day the Spanish health authorities have lifted the mask requirement outdoors as case numbers fall. Photo: Eduardo Briones/dpa.

The Nomad Today

10 de February de 2022 (14:59 h.)

In further easing, Mallorca and neighbouring islands have dropped the regulation that people have to be vaccinated, recovered or test negative in order to go to restaurants, cafés, bars and gyms

The Spanish health authorities have lifted the mask requirement outdoors as case numbers fall.

The rule was introduced shortly before Christmas amid soaring Covid-19 infections.

The easing also applies in schools, where pupils no longer have to wear masks in the playground. However, there was little monitoring of compliance, according to youngsters.

"We always wore our masks under our chins during breaks and no teacher complained," said Sophie, 11, in Barcelona.

Masks are still required in indoor public spaces and on buses and trains, a regulation most people follow.

In further easing, Mallorca and neighbouring islands have dropped the regulation that people have to be vaccinated, recovered or test negative in order to go to restaurants, cafés, bars and gyms, the Mallorca Zeitung reported, citing the regional government.

Incidence in decline

Spain's seven-day incidence rate of cases per 100,000 has fallen to around 600 in Mallorca.

In mid-January, the seven-day case rate was more than 1,600 as the Omicron strain spread through Spain.

Fewer patients are being treated in hospital, too, thanks to the high vaccination rate, with some 81% of Spaniards having had the basic course of shots, and 48% having had a booster.