Spain Masks On Beach?
Spain has dropped its rules around wearing face masks when sunbathing and swimming after a backlash. A law was introduced last week that required all tourists and locals to wear a face mask at all times in outdoor public spaces, including at the beach. The law set out was intended to apply to all public spaces, meaning that face masks would be required when sunbathing on the beach or swimming in the sea.
- The Spanish health authorities have now clarified the rules;
- Following talks, a statement explaining that people will be permitted to remove their face masks on the beach when sunbathing or swimming;
- It said that masks can be removed “when a person remains in a specific place and respects a minimum distance of 1;
5 metres from non-household members”. Masks can also be removed while swimming in the sea, swimming pools, rivers, reservoirs and lakes, as long as social distancing rules can be followed. However, anyone walking along the beach will need to wear a mask. Masks will also need to be worn when inside or outside at bars and restaurants, except “for the moments necessary for eating or drinking”.
Should you wear a face mask when sunbathing in Spain?
Spain has dropped its rules around wearing face masks when sunbathing and swimming after a backlash. A law was introduced last week that required all tourists and locals to wear a face mask at all times in outdoor public spaces, including at the beach. The law set out was intended to apply to all public spaces, meaning that face masks would be required when sunbathing on the beach or swimming in the sea.
- The Spanish health authorities have now clarified the rules;
- Following talks, a statement explaining that people will be permitted to remove their face masks on the beach when sunbathing or swimming;
- It said that masks can be removed “when a person remains in a specific place and respects a minimum distance of 1;
5 metres from non-household members”. Masks can also be removed while swimming in the sea, swimming pools, rivers, reservoirs and lakes, as long as social distancing rules can be followed. However, anyone walking along the beach will need to wear a mask. Masks will also need to be worn when inside or outside at bars and restaurants, except “for the moments necessary for eating or drinking”.
What does Spain’s new mask rule mean for the tourism industry?
The Spanish tourist industry has reacted with dismay to the government’s decree that face masks must be worn in all outdoor spaces, including beaches and swimming pools, even when it is possible to maintain social distancing. “We’re going through hell with thousands of jobs and businesses threatened and now they want to turn the beaches into open-air field hospitals,” José Luis Zoreda, vice-president of Exceltur, the umbrella organisation that represents Spain’s tourism industry, told El País newspaper.
- Industry representatives complain that they were not consulted over the decision, which was announced in an official state bulletin on Tuesday;
- “We’ve already given up on Easter as a lost cause,” said Zoreda;
“Now we have to put our hopes on summer. ” He said the “improvised measures” did not inspire confidence on the part of the foreign visitors whom the struggling industry is desperate to bring back. Tourism accounts for about 12% of Spain’s GDP. Masks have been obligatory indoors and out in Catalonia since last July and in Valencia since early this year, despite claims by scientists that there is a very low risk of contagion in the open air.
- Earlier this month Fernando Simón, head of Spain’s coordination centre for health emergencies and alerts, said: “I don’t believe that masks are the key to reducing transmission;
- It’s not necessary for everyone to wear one;
What’s important is that people who are infected wear one, although we don’t know who is infected and who isn’t. ” Simón added that they should be obligatory in enclosed spaces. Spain Covid cases The government has reacted to criticism, saying the decree is open to interpretation and that details of its implementation would be hammered out between central government and Spain’s 17 autonomous regions.
In Catalonia, where masks have been compulsory for the past eight months, exceptions are made for outdoor sporting activities, eating, drinking and smoking. Officially, eating and drinking in the street is prohibited, but the measure is rarely enforced.
Meanwhile, there are growing fears of a fourth wave as four regions, including Madrid, reported an infection rate of 250 per 100,000 of population over the past 14 days. Tuesday’s decree will remain in force until the government is convinced that the pandemic has ended, suggesting that mask wearing will be a fact of life in Spain for some time to come.
Do you have to wear a face mask on the beach?
Spain has done a U-turn after initially demanding tourists wore masks on the beach (Picture: Jonathan Perugia/In Pictures via Getty Images) British tourists visiting Spain this summer will no longer be required to wear a face mask while sunbathing or swimming. Health chiefs have now abandoned strict plans demanding people wear face coverings while they are on the beach, swimming in an outdoor or covered pool, or in the sea. But holidaymakers must wear a mask when they are walking to the beach or using communal facilities.
They are also required in outdoor restaurants, cafes or bars – except when customers are eating or drinking. Authorities released a statement confirming face coverings will not be mandatory while sunbathing or swimming but urged people to be ‘careful’, the Telegraph reports.
Masks can be removed on the beach when a person ‘remains in a specific place’ and ‘respects a minimum distance of 1. 5 metres from non-household members’. The ‘draconian’ rules, first announced on March 30, were revised amid widespread criticism as tourism bosses feared people would travel elsewhere this summer. ‘ Sunbathers will no longer be required to wear a mask on the beach in Spain (Picture: Desiree Martin / AFP via Getty Images) Spain revised the rules after making face masks mandatory on the beach at the end of March (Picture: Josep LAGO / AFP via Getty Images) Holidaymakers also apparently complained sunbathing with a mask would leave them with ‘two-tone faces’. The decision has sparked some fears of a potential spike in coronavirus cases. But many also welcomed the move on social media. One person wrote: ‘Who the hell is going to lie on a beach with a mask on?’ Others described the initial rule as ‘bonkers’, ‘totally ridiculous’ and ‘absolutely crazy’.
José Luis Zoreda, vice-president of Exceltur, an organisation that represents Spain’s tourism industry, told newspaper El País at the time: ‘We’re going through hell with thousands of jobs and businesses threatened and now they want to turn the beaches into open-air field hospitals.
Another said: ‘I can’t believe it was even imposed in the first place’. Masks will still be required in restaurants and cafes – except when patrons are eating or drinking (Picture: Desiree Martin/AFP via Getty Images) It comes as dozens defied Covid-19 rules to attend an impromptu beach party in Barcelona last week, police said. Meetings of more than six people are banned in the region of Catalonia, northern Spain, where rulebreakers could face fines in excess of £500. Police in parts of the Balearic Islands, including Mallorca, resorted to using drones to monitor sunbathers during the Easter break.
Where are facemarks now obligatory in Spain?
Masks would have to be worn by people on beach strolls – and could only be taken off to go swimming or by people in their “family environment” when they are sat on the sand sunbathing and not moving around 
( Image: SOLARPIX. COM) Brit holidaymakers have been told they must wear face masks on Costa del Sol beaches from tomorrow. The Balearics Islands exempted beaches as one of the places they had to be used when more restrictive rules were brought in today on. But the Andalucian government, which is responsible for areas like the Costa del Sol and is tightening up its rules from midnight tonight, is not making beaches an exception Spokesman Elias Bendodo said they would have to be worn by people on beach strolls – and could only be taken off to go swimming or by people in their “family environment” when they are sat on the sand sunbathing and not moving around.
He told local press:”We are asking for face masks to be used on beaches and to move around pools so they have to be worn for strolls along the beach. ” He said people from the same family who live together could take them off while sunbathing as long as they were able to social distance and confirmed children under six would not have to wear them at any time on and off the beach.
But asked whether people who don’t live together would have to wear face masks even while sunbathing, he was quoted as saying: “When we talk about face masks, we’re referring to strolls along the beach and those reunions on the beach with people you’re not normally with.
- ” “Each individual has to know and be responsible about what they consider to be their family environment;
- ” Fines of £90 will be handed out to those who flout the new rules in Spain’s most populated region with nearly nine million inhabitants;
The government announcement means that if Andalucia stays true to its intent, its face mask wearing regime could become one of the toughest in Spain. The new rules in the Balearic Islands, which governors initially said would apply in places like bar terraces and would enable customers to take their face masks off only when food and drink arrived, were watered down before they became law Holidaymakers and other sunseekers will be keeping their fingers crossed too that they get watered down for places like the Costa del Sol, otherwise many could decide to stay away from the sand.
Mr Bendodo’scomments raise the prospect British tourists who have met up on holiday in Spain, or pals who have flown from the UK but don’t live together, could face problems if they sunbathe together face masks on, although it is unclear how such a complex situation could ever be properly policed Catalonia and Extremadura are among the other regions of Spain that now make facemarks obligatory virtually everywhere in public outdoors.
Previously they only had to be worn outdoors in public where social distancing could not be guaranteed. They have been mandatory throughout Spain for several weeks now in closed public spaces indoors like shops as well as on public transport.