Spain has made it mandatory to place masks in public places for all its citizens, including children over the age of six, in the framework of the gradual relaxation of the general isolation measures imposed in the country, which is one of the most stringent measures in Europe.
This came in an order issued by the Ministry of Health, which stipulates that the masks must be placed, as of today, Thursday, in closed and open public places, if it is impossible for citizens to maintain a distance of two meters between them.
The pace of new deaths has slowed to less than 100 per day, and the left-wing coalition, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, is seeking to lift most of the isolation measures by the end of June, if the country does not experience a second wave of outbreaks.
The government is demanding an extension of the state of emergency for two weeks, to continue to control the gradual lifting of restrictions, which differ from one region to another. The House of Representatives, where Sanchez needs some support from the opposition to gain a majority, will vote on the extension yesterday.
Some were tired of the restrictions, and a few hundred protesters gathered daily at nine in the morning, to knock on vessels and utensils and to call for the government's resignation. Protesters, who go out mainly in conservative, affluent neighborhoods, often ignore the rules of social estrangement.
Madrid eased restrictions to allow children to go out and to reopen shops and beaches. But it keeps the quarantine imposed on people coming from outside the country for another two weeks.
• A few hundred demonstrators gather daily to ring pots and call for the government’s resignation.