Little by little, football is regaining its rights in Europe. La Liga, the Spanish football championship, is set to resume on the weekend of June 8, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced. He also said that foreign tourists could return to the country from July.

"The hard part is over [...]. We have overcome the great wave of the pandemic," said the head of government at a press conference.

Therefore, "the week of June 8, the resumption of major sports and professional competitions, and in particular the La Liga, will be allowed," he said.

The professional football championship had been suspended since the introduction of containment in mid-March, as had the arrivals of foreign tourists.

The deconfinement started two weeks ago in half the country will be extended on Monday to Madrid and Barcelona, ​​the two main centers of contagion in Spain, one of the most mourning countries in Europe with more than 28,000 dead.

Resumption of tourism

"I am announcing that from July, the entry of foreign tourists into Spain will resume under security conditions. Foreign tourists can therefore plan their holidays in our country now," he announced.

This authorization is crucial for the second largest tourist destination in the world, where the sector weighs 12% of GDP.

"We will guarantee that tourists do not take any risks and that they do not bring risks to our country either," said Pedro Sanchez.

"We are one step away from victory, but we must remember that the virus has not disappeared, and that we must keep it at a distance," he warned, however.

"It is essential (...) not to relax," he warned, while thousands of Spaniards demonstrated on Saturday in a car at the call of the far-right Vox party, to denounce the maintenance of the state of alert imposed on March 14.

Pedro Sanchez narrowly obtained, on Wednesday, the vote by the Parliament of the extension until June 6 inclusive of this exceptional measure which allows to restrict the movement of people to fight against the pandemic.

Madrid and Barcelona will be able to reopen terraces of bars, hotels and museums from Monday, with strict limitations on the number of customers.

Many areas of the country that had already started deconfinement, that is 22 million Spaniards, will take the next step, with the reopening of beaches, swimming pools and cinemas.

With AFP

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