Spain ends two years of compulsory use of masks

USPA NEWS - Spain lives its last days of mandatory use of masks, after two years since the measure was implemented due to the coronavirus pandemic. At zero hours next Wednesday, April 20, masks will no longer be mandatory indoors, after the Government approves the measure 24 hours before. But there will be exceptions.

The masks had ceased to be mandatory outdoors on February 9. With 95 percent of the Spanish population fully vaccinated and the pandemic under control, the Spanish Government decreed the measure and only maintained the obligation to wear a mask indoors or in large crowds of people and when it was not possible to keep the distance from security between people. Two and a half months later, the use of a mask will no longer be mandatory indoors, although there will be exceptions.

The use of a mask will continue to be mandatory for workers and visitors to hospitals and nursing homes. Also in public buildings and on public transport. But it will no longer be mandatory in bars and restaurants, shops and malls, and in schools. The use of a mask will become recommended for cooks, waiters and teachers, although not doing so will not entail any type of sanction.

The Spanish Government did not want to approve the end of mandatory masks before Holy Week, which is celebrated these days. The Easter mini-holidays, with more than eight million trips by road and hotel occupancy close to 90 percent in tourist areas, poses a significant risk of increased contagion. Mote than four million Spaniards remain unvaccinated and their presence in tourist areas represented a serious risk in a few days when Spaniards, after two years of isolation and restrictions, want to travel and enjoy the Sun, gastronomy, culture and fun.

The end of the mandatory masks has been received by the Spaniards with divided opinions. Most of them wait for April 20 to finally get rid of the masks, but there are many who do not trust and announce that they will continue to wear them on the street and when entering shops, bars and restaurants. But what nobody disputes is that next Wednesday Spain will recover almost all the life it had before the pandemic.