Curfew Set To Ease As Madrid Nightlife Itches To Return
The Madrid regional government has confirmed that the present restrictions on bars and restaurants is being eased this week.
The regional premier, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, took to social media to tweet that the closing time on bars and restaurants is to move to 23.00 with the stipulation that no new customers are allowed to enter establishments after 22.00.
The curfew is set to run from 00.00 to 06.00 for 14 days until 1st March when the measure will be reviewed.
The premier has long advocated a looser arrangement for the bar and restaurant sector which has been struggling to survive government restrictions.
Meanwhile Madrid´s local police were struggling themselves to deal with the surge of illegal gatherings and private parties in the capital.
Most of the illegal parties were in clandestine bars, tourist apartments and restaurants that were no longer in business.
According to municipal police figures released today, Monday 15th February, this weekend the force broke up 418 illegal parties, issued 2,700 fines and made 53 arrests as Madrid´s young ignored the curfew and social distancing measures in place to combat the spread of the coronnavirus.
Although the incident rate of coronavirus infections has been falling the regional health authorities have added another 7 new restricted zones to 24 in the capital and another 15 regional municipalities encompassing 1.4 million inhabitants.
To date, Madrid has registered more than 500,000 coronavirus cases of whom 12,000 have died.
