Madrid and Barcelona enter phase 2 on Monday

After 8 June, most of Spain will already be in Phase 3 - the most advanced stage of the lockdown de-escalation

On Friday, the Spanish government announced the regions and territories that will proceed further in the de-escalation plan. Luckily, Barcelona and Madrid are allowed to alleviate the regimes further, albeit not as much as other territories.

Most of Spain in Phase 3

News is good for the larger part of the territory of the country, which is allowed to move from Phase 2 to Phase 3. This includes Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, Balearic Islands (including Ibiza, Mallorca, Menorca), Canary islands, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha (Guadalajara and Cuenca), Catalonia (sanitary regions of Alt Pirineu i Aran, Terres de l'Ebre and Camp de Tarragona), Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Navarra, Melilla, Murcia, the Basque Country.

All of them will be joining the 3 territories of the Canary which have been in the most advanced 3rd phase of the Spanish government’s strategy of transitioning to the “new normal” since 1 June.

Castilla y León, Barcelona and Madrid advance further

The following territories proceed from Phase 1 to Phase 2 on Monday 8 March:

• Castilla y León
• Catalonia: Barcelona sanitary region with the North and South Metropolitan sanitary regions and Lleida sanitary region
• Community of Madrid

This means that as of next month the entirety of Spain will have passed beyond Phase one of the de-escalation plan. We remind that Phase 2 allows for all commercial premises, retailers and professional services to reopen at 40% of their capacity, including shopping centres. Travel restrictions within the respective territories are also relaxed.

Phase 3 allows travelling in groups of up to 20 people. Supervised animation activities or group classes of up to 20 people will also be allowed to resume.

Shops can open with 50% of the total capacity guaranteeing a minimum distance of two meters between customers. Hotel establishments may now reopen the restoration areas. On outdoor terraces, the capacity will be limited to 75% of the tables, with a maximum occupancy of 20 people.

In libraries, museums and exhibition halls the capacity allowed will be 50%. The same goes for cinemas, theatres, auditoriums, and similar, as long as they exceed half the authorized capacity in each room.