It Will Be Lonely This Christmas As Gatherings Restricted And No Three Kings

The Spanish government is set to publish it’s guidelines for controlling social gatherings over the Christmas period.

This is expected to propose maintaining the limit on family and social get-togethers to a maximum of six people as well as keeping the midnight curfew with the exception of Christmas and New Year’s Eves which will be extended until 1.00 am.

The report entitled “Proposals for Covid-19 public health measures for the celebration of Christmas fiestas.” allows for same household family gatherings but otherwise recommends the “rule of six” measures to be maintained as well as other now familar features of the health and hygene protocols in place across the world including the use of masks, regular handwashing, social distancing and ventilated indoor spaces.

The report also recommends against celebrating the traditional Three Kings’ parade, which is the highlight of the traditional festive celebrations in Spain due to the “elevated risk of transmission due to the high number of spectators, the intensity of contact and the difficulty of mitigating the associated risks.”

The text adds that “large events must be individually assessed by public health authorities” following the government’s guidelines.

The rest of the rules, with respect to religious celebrations, cultural events, capacity in establishments and curfew hours for other days of the festive season, will be guided by the restrictions in place in each respective region.

The proposals have yet to be agreed by Spain’s 17 autonomous communities whom have the competence for the implementation of Covid -19 measures.

The Madrid region will be closing it´s borders from the 4th to 14th December to coincide with the Constitution Day bank holiday on the 6th and regional Immaculate Conception festival on the 8th.

The regional government have yet to announce it´s own guidelines for the Christmas season but it is believed to allow for up to 10 people gatherings and a similar curfew time.

In recent weeks the number of new cases has fallen dramatically but the fear remains of a resurgence during the festive season unless measures are maintained.

To date Spain has recorded over 1.6 million cases and 43,000 deaths.