BARCELONA, Spain (AP) – Nightclubs, bars and beaches, some of Spain’s most popular summer spots, face new blocking restrictions after they became coronavirus hot spots, and some European countries warn 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 has put Spain back on its sunday’s untrusted list, ruling hours before travellers arriving in the UK from Spain will now have to be quarantined for 14 days. Norway has also ordered about 40 days for those returning from the Iberian Peninsula. France and Belgium urge travellers to abandon their plans to spend a summer holiday in Barcelona and its nearby beaches, which have noticed too many crowds to allow social estrangement.
Tui, the UK’s biggest tour operator, said Sunday it had cancelled all flights due to depart to mainland Spain until Aug. 9, but it has maintained flights and travel packages for trips to Spain’s Balearic and Canary Islands.
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 find that the expansion of contagion is exponential, 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.
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“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 do it with a country if it has 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’d spend 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. Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya said the islands are “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 traveling to Europe for a beach holiday on the go. And for that to happen, there will be a major impact.”
While families and other people threatened in Spain basically comply with the regulations of dressing in mask and state at a distance of 1.50 meters from others, adolescents and young adults have violated fitness standards.
With the decline of the 19 Spanish regional governments in the rate of their fitness care systems, there have been 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 are contemplating similar restrictions.
Two nightclubs and bar associations say they will sue The Catalan to block a resolution that 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.”
Contribution: John Leicester, Associated Press.