Holidaymakers can breathe a sigh of relief: shortly after making masks obligatory on the beach, Spain now says they won’t be necessary on holiday while sunbathing or swimming if social distancing is respected.
The law sparked a huge backlash in Spain which is heavily dependent on tourism, particularly in coastal areas which are gearing up for summer and lobbying hard for the introduction of vaccination passports.
Government health officials modified law
Following talks late Wednesday, government health officials and those from Spain’s 17 regions agreed to modify the law, meaning people can now remove masks on the beach if they remain in one place, “respecting the minimum 1.5-metre (5-foot) security distance from people they don’t live with,” a health ministry statement said.
But if they walk along the beach, they must put them back on, it said.
A woman wearing a face mask uses her smartphone on Levante beach in Benidorm.
Masks can be removed, including while swimming in the sea, as well as both indoor and outdoor swimming pools.
Masks can be removed for drinking or eating in Benidorm
Spain has so far lost over 76,000 lives to the virus and counted more than 3.3 million cases.
EXPLAINED: How Spain’s new face mask law will affect you
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