ARCHIVED - Andalusian government backtracks over ban on selling alcohol after 6 pm
Beer and wine have now been excluded, with the regional authority’s Department of Health specifying in the details of the ban that it refers to "spirits with an alcohol content exceeding 21 proof"
The Andalusia governemnt has backed down following complaints from the business sector and amended the conditions of a ban on selling alcohol after six in the evening.
The original order, which was published in the BOJA regional bulletin on Friday 12 February, justifies the restriction by claiming it will reduce mobility and is in keeping with the measure already in place to close all non-essential businesses and bars and restaurants at 6 pm.
Although the initial ban was on all alcoholic beverages, it was later fine tuned to allow beer and wine to continue to be sold as normal.
“Buying spirits is associated with gatherings of certain segments of the population, whose leisure time coincides with the times in question, and it has been proven that personal safety measures are relaxed at gatherings of this type which involve alcohol, thus increasing transmission of the virus,” the order stressed.