Brits will now have to wear face masks in Costa del Sol on holiday – joining Majorca and Ibiza
BRITS heading for the Marbella will have to wear face masks from Wednesday, becoming the third region to enforce them.
President of the Andalusian Government, Juanma Moreno confirmed today that it will be compulsory from midnight on July 15 in the Costa del Sol, regardless of social distancing.
"Despite the heat, difficulties and limitations, we have to get used to wearing the mask permanently. With the use of the mask, the risk of contagion is reduced to one per cent," he said.
Brits flocked to the Costa del Sol last weekend, after the government removed the UK quarantine restrictions for Spain - leading to a number of beaches being from entering.
The new face mask rules mirror similar decisions taken in other holiday areas of Spain, including Catalonia and the Balearic Islands today where fines of €100 (£90) will be imposed for breaches with effect from July 20, giving tourists and locals one week's grace.
In Majorca and Ibiza, there will be exceptions, such as on the beaches and swimming pools, in the countryside and when eating or drinking in a restaurant.
This is not the case in Barcelona - tourists will have to wear face masks on the beach or when they sunbathe by their hotel pool and will only be allowed to remove them when they go for a dip or swim in the water.
Police are expected to be advised to give foreign holidaymakers who may be unfamiliar with the new rules a warning before they start fining people.
Juanma Moreno said that in some Andalusian municipalities, a "tourismophobia" was developing due to visitors "who do not properly attend to security measures and, also, a progressive relaxation in protection habits has been detected".
The masks will have to be worn in open and closed spaces, even if social distancing is possible.
Moreno said that despite coronavirus outbreaks in the last couple of days, the situation was under control and cases were declining, as were the number of people in hospital.
He called for individual and collective responsibility and to continue taking extreme precautions.
"We all have to work together until there is no effective treatment or a vaccine," he added.
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Two regions have already been locked down in recent days - one affecting 70,000 people kicked in at midnight on Sunday in La Marina, north of Lugo in Galicia, which includes popular holiday destinations like Ribadeo, while the other, ordered after a new Covid-19 outbreak, is in the Segria region of Lleida province in Catalonia.
Spokesman for the Generalitat, Catalonia’s regional government, Meritxell Budo said: “We will have to live with coronavirus for the next few months. That’s a reality.
“The virus is still here and will continue to spread. While we don’t have a vaccine we will have to put in place other types of barriers.”