New restrictive measures to fight the pandemic in Spain. Since Thursday August 13, it is forbidden to smoke in the streets and terraces of the Spanish province of Galicia if a safety distance of at least two meters between people cannot be observed.

This measure, unprecedented in the country, aims to try to curb the transmission of the new coronavirus. Wearing a mask cannot be ignored "in order to smoke cigarettes or electronic cigarettes (...) on public roads or in the open air, including terraces, unless it is possible to maintain a permanent minimum distance of two meters between people ", indicated Wednesday evening the official bulletin of this region of North-West Spain.

The Spanish Society of Epidemiology recommended, at the end of July, a ban on smoking outdoors because "smokers who are infected and asymptomatic can emit droplets containing the virus and put the rest of the population at risk".

Galicia, which with 30 cases per 100,000 inhabitants compared to 97 cases / 100,000 inhabitants in the rest of Spain, is not the most affected province, has taken other preventive measures, such as restricting the number of customers in stores, ban on meetings of more than ten people or restrictions on nightlife.

A worrying increase in contamination

Outside the Canary Islands, wearing a mask is compulsory throughout Spain, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic with 28,579 deaths.

The country, which has a population of 47 million, has recorded 44,000 new cases in the past 14 days. A high figure, rising sharply, which is causing concern to the authorities. By comparison, Italy, the European country most affected by the crisis, recorded only 4,700 over the same period.

The country ended on June 21 one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, where for weeks the population was under house arrest. As of this date, the authorities recorded 238 new cases per day and an average of 8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

With AFP and AP

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