Almost all of Spain in the red zone for Germany. On Friday August 14, the German Ministry of Health announced that the entire country, apart from the Canary Islands, would join the list of “risk areas” in reaction to an increase in Covid-19 contamination.

All of Spain, with the exception of the Canary Islands, but including the island of Mallorca, a favorite destination for Germans, will be included in the next list of regions at risk published by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) .

The German Foreign Ministry is then expected to warn against tourist travel to these areas and subject travelers to a coronavirus test or a mandatory two-week quarantine.

The move is a blow to hopes of a rapid resumption of tourism in Spain after months of containment measures aimed at stopping the spread of the virus. 

Nearly 3,000 new cases identified on Friday

Contamination in Spain has started to rise again since the strict quarantine measures were relaxed seven weeks ago.

Berlin estimates that regions of the European Union pose a high risk as soon as the number of new coronavirus infections exceeds 50 cases per 100,000 people in seven days.

The nearly 3,000 new cases recorded in Spain on Friday, a number similar to the previous day, are about double the average for the first 12 days of August, and bring the total toll of infections to 342,813; the highest in Western Europe.

The Balearic Islands, one of the most touristic areas including Ibiza, however, have one of the lowest daily infection rates of any Spanish region. Cases, after peaking at around 80 in July, have dropped to 9 according to the health ministry.

Earlier in the day on Friday, the Spanish authorities decided to order the closure of nightclubs and to ban smoking outside when maintaining a sufficient safety distance is not possible.

With Reuters and AFP

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