Normalised mobility at Easter unlikely, Spanish government says

MadridEaster Week is the new horizon to expand social contact after the Christmas holidays. The permissiveness during the latter led to a third wave that is only now subsiding, although still with a cumulative incidence throughout the state of 865 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days and a pressure which is taking healthcare in certain regions to the limit. While on Monday some ministers and the Spanish president himself, Pedro Sánchez, gave hope of being able to recover some mobility within two months - right now most territories have perimeter confinement - this Tuesday the government spokeswoman, María Jesús Montero, has assured that normalised mobility by Easter would be "difficult".

"We do not have a crystal ball to know what the situation will be like, but all we have learnt makes us extremely prudent," she said at the press conference after the Council of Ministers, when asked about a hypothetical fourth wave. Montero has called for caution and asked, without mentioning any region, not to take "shortcuts" in the fight against coronavirus. Currently, most communities have quite restrictive measures, although on Monday the president of the Madrid region, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, announced that it will increase the number of people allowed to sit outside bars and restaurants from four to six per table and the curfew will be delayed - now is at 22 h-. Customers of bars and restaurants will, however, have to wear a mask while they are not eating or drinking.

Montero did not want to confront the president of Madrid, but has warned that with the experience of the first and second waves it is necessary to "shore up" epidemiological indicators when they begin to mark a trend to avoid taking "steps backward". The spokeswoman for the Spanish government did not want to give clues as to how the measures may evolve and stressed that the evolution of the pandemic will mark what can eventually be transferred for regions to decide in the run-up to Easter. The uncertainty about the variants is a relevant conditioning factor.

What the Spanish government has decided is to ban flights from Brazil and South Africa, as Ayuso requested a few days ago, except for Spanish and Andorran citizens and/or residents. Flights from these countries will also be able to arrive if they are for stopovers on international trips for less than 24 hours and without passengers leaving the airports. The measure, which has been taken to prevent the spread of the two variants originating in these two countries, will come into force this Wednesday and will be extended for the time being until February 17, although further extensions are on the cards.