Madrid & Castilla La Mancha Mull No Masks As Bars Now Open Till 1

Today the five provinces of Castilla-La Mancha celebrate their regional day, as the regional premier, Emiliano García-Page, raised the prospect that the autonomous community would be the first in Spain to lift the compulsory wearing of face masks in public.

Speaking at the official celebrations for the region, the premier added that he hoped that this would be in coordination with the rest of the country in order to have “national coherence” between the central government and the country´s 17 autonomous regions.

He said that the regional health authorities should be making their decision in the coming weeks.

Shortly after, the Madrid regional premier, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, said that she too was looking at the easing of restrictions including the obligatory wearing of masks in public places.

Speaking at the launch of Madrid Fusion, Ayuso said that the region has long advocated that it not be a requirement but added that it has proved the most effective form of spreading the coronavirus.

Since the end of the national state of alarm on May 9th, the regional health authorities have had the competencies for public health protocols and restrictions to fight the pandemic.

Earlier this month, the government Covid-19 supremo and director of the Inter-Territorial Council of the National Health System, Fernando Simon, said that the issue could be looked at very soon due to the falling incident rate and increasing vaccination rate.

The latest official coronavirus figures published on Friday 28th May, show that the national rate continues to fall to 124 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, with Castilla-La Mancha on 113 and neighbouring Madrid on 188.

The governments vaccination rollout continues to quicken with the latest figures showing that Spain has administered 26,133,689 doses so that a total of 17,707,320 people have now received at least one injection and 8,804,363 are now fully vaccinated, representing 18.6% of the population.

The Madrid regional authorities have announced that from today, 31st May, bars, restaurants, cinemas, theatres, and auditoriums will be allowed to open until 01.00 am with last customers admitted into the premises by midnight.

In addition the city´s 2,000 municipal fountains will have their taps working again by the end of the month.