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ARCHIVED - Communities in Spain divided over abolishing indoor masks
Regional leaders are meeting this week to finalise a Covid de-escalation plan for Spain
The Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, is set to meet with all of the regional leaders in Zaragoza on March 10 to finalise Spain’s roadmap out of the coronavirus pandemic, which will essentially end the extensive monitoring of all Covid-positive people and instead focus health efforts on the most vulnerable groups, who are currently accounting for the vast majority of virus-related deaths in the country.
However, the question on everyone’s lips is whether or not a debate will be held on abolishing masks indoors, a contentious issue which has communities divided. On three occasions now President Sánchez has indicated that the measure will be scrapped “soon” without going into further detail, but Madrid is pushing for a further relaxation of restrictions and it’s anticipated that a formal request will in fact be made at today’s Interterritorial Council.
While most regions are remaining firmly on the fence, this week the president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, announced that he is in favour of a “gradual and responsible” withdrawal of masks in indoor spaces once the recommendations of scientific and health experts are followed.
At the other end of scale, the Basque Country and Extremadura have refused to abolish masks without a national “consensus”, with the latter going so far as accusing Madrid of being “sensationalist” and scrambling to be the first community to suggest it.
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For the most part, the autonomous communities are deferring to the opinion of the experts and refusing to take a stance on the matter either way, and the Murcian Government has insisted that the removal of masks indoors will be “left in the hands of technical criteria.”
It seems unlikely, although not impossible, that a decision on mask-wearing will be made today, but what does seem certain is that the days of this safety measure are numbered. President Sánchez has said that Spain’s high vaccination rate creates the perfect condition to do away with the measure, and he is very clear that indoor mask-wearing will be abolished “sooner rather than later”.
Now read: How to get a Covid passport and How to make an appointment for a vaccination or booster jab in Spain
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