BARCELONA, Spain (AP) – Nightclubs, bars and beaches – some of Spain’s most beloved summer venues – are facing new lockdown restrictions after turning into coronavirus hot spots, and some European nations are warning citizens not to visit the country.
The northeastern regions of Catalonia and Aragon are home to The 3 most concerned virus groups in Spain, leading the government to tighten restrictions in Barcelona, a rural domain around Lleida and Zaragoza that was alleviated just a month ago when Spain controlled its devastating epidemic.
Britain put Spain back on its unsafe list beginning Sunday, announcing hours earlier that travelers arriving in the U.K. from Spain must now quarantine for 14 days. Norway also ordered a 10-day quarantine for those returning from the Iberian Peninsula. France and Belgium are recommending that travelers ditch plans to spend their summer vacations in Barcelona and its nearby beaches, which have seen crowds too massive to allow for social distancing.
Tui, the UK’s largest tour operator, said Sunday that he had cancelled all flights due to his departure to mainland Spain until 9 August, but that he had maintained flights and packages for the Balearic Islands and the Spanish Canary Islands.
Swimmers enjoy the beach of Palma de Mallorca, Spain, on Sunday, July 26, 2020. Britain has put Spain back on its list of mistrust and announced on Saturday that travellers arriving in the UK from Spain will have to be quarantined for 14 days. The UK resolution without caution took travellers off guard. (Photo AP / Joan Mateu)
Travellers have been left off guard through the British resolution, including British Transport Minister Grant Shapps is in Spain.
“I think it’s extreme. If you only come one day, no way,” said José González, a Spaniard on his way home to London at Madrid airport. “We’ll have to see what happens next. We’ll have to respect that and that’s it. There’s nothing else you can do.”
Spain reported more than 900 new infections on Thursday and Friday, as the government warned that the country that lost at least 28,400 lives before controlling its epidemic could face the start of a primary attack for now.
Catalonia has ordered the closure of all night venues for 15 days and has implemented a midnight curfew in the bars of Barcelona and Lleida and its surroundings, hours after French Prime Minister Jean Castex suggested that French citizens do not go to Catalonia due to the increase in new infections.
“If we see that the expansion of contagion is exponential, then the way to prevent it is to restrict the loose movement,” said Josep Maria Argimon, head of public fitness in Catalonia.
Catalonia’s regional government, led by separatists who had complained about the Spanish centralization of the fitness crisis from March to June, is suffering from developing clusters that have defeated the search groups for low-income contacts in Spain.
Tourism employs 2.6 million people in Spain and generates 12% of the country’s economic activity. The Spanish government, industry unions and industry leaders are strongly committed to conveying the message that Spain is a destination for foreigners in order to save the 2020 tourist season. This now seems more like an illusion.
“The season is almost lost now,” Martín Sarrate, president of the Agencias Agreement in Catalonia, told Spanish public broadcaster TVE. “It’s a big setback. Who will go to a country if you have to enter a 14-day quarantine?”
At least one disagreed.
“We will be back this afternoon after the holidays have passed,” wrote English tourist Sue Marshall on Twitter from Mallorca. “We spent three weeks isolating ourselves and starting over.”
Spain negotiates with the UK to lift the 40 returning travellers from the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, who are even more dependent on tourism. Chancellor Arancha González Laya said the islands were “highly controlled territories” that are improving in the pandemic than the UK.
France said it is not yet mandatory to close its border with Spain. The UK and France sent 4.2 million tourists to Spain in August 2019.
“We have noticed a wave of cancellations basically from foreign consumers from France, Germany and England who were due to come next week, especially in Barcelona,” said David Riba, president of the Apartamentos Turísticos Federatur organization.
Lyndsey Thomas, executive director of the site Girlabout.co.uk, said the announcement was a blow to an industry that was already suffering to get out of the pandemic.
“I think we actually expected 2020 to survive. I think being able to spend the summer vacation in Spain was wonderful news for the travel industry,” he told The Associated Press. “Spain is the number one destination for Britons who pass to Europe and spend a beach holiday. And for that to happen, there will be a major impact.”
While families and the at-risk elderly in Spain are mostly complying with rules to wear face masks and maintain a 1.5-meter (5-foot) distance from others, teenagers and young adults have been flouting the health rules.
With the decline of the 19 Spanish regional governments in the rate of their fitness care systems, there have been a variety of responses to the virus’s rebirth. But they all agree to avoid the boom in the business similar to nightclubs and bars, which supposedly require social estrangement and masks. Many spaces have reduced the occupancy rate of nightclubs and some have required tables on the dance floors to discourage close contact. Officials in Madrid have similar restrictions.
Two business associations for nightclubs and bars say they will take the Catalan government to court to block a decision they say puts 35,000 jobs at risk.
Despite worrying tendencies, the government has tried to send a message of calm.
“Like other European countries, Spain has epidemics, which is not unusual,” Gonzalez Laya said. “The vital thing is that Spain makes a massive effort in the face of these epidemics.”
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Kirka reported from London and John Leicester to Paris contributed to this report.
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