Bad news for vacationers: the region of Catalonia is closing beaches and bars due to the high incidence. Private meetings are also restricted.
Barcelona – Catalonia closes! The corona numbers in Spain have been pointing up steeply for days. For German vacationers, the quarantine obligation threatens after returning from Mallorca, if the value does not decrease in the course of the week. The numbers from Catalonia with Barcelona and the number of new Covid-19 infections on the Balearic Islands are particularly worrying.
Mallorca passed the dubious 200 mark on Monday. According to John Hopkins University, on Monday July 12, 2021, the incidence in the Balearic Islands was 221.0, just below the average for the country in the Iberian Peninsula.
Incidence in Spain: Catalonia is the Iberian corona hotspot
The incidence in Spain stands at 223.8 with 33,932 new corona infections and 17 deaths related to Covid-Sars-2, while Catalonia lives up to the expression Corona hotspot. The incidence in Catalonia, with the metropolis of Barcelona and a 600-kilometer-long Mediterranean coast, was 448 on Monday. And there is no end in sight.
The region of Catalonia is now taking further corona measures to get the situation under control. First of all, the curve in the number of Covid 19 infections, which has been rising steeply for days, is to be stopped or at least flattened by restricting night-time activities.
Due to the high number of infections in Catalonia, bars and beaches in the region have to close
Because of the incidence in Catalonia, restaurants, bars, cultural and sports venues are particularly affected, but all other businesses in the region will also have to close from 0:30 in the future. This regulation will “come into force tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,” said the spokeswoman for the regional government, Patricia Plaja, on Monday. In addition, all beaches and places should be closed between 0:30 a.m. and 6:00 a.m.
In addition, there are other measures to contain the corona pandemic. Meetings of more than ten people in both private and public spaces should then no longer be possible. However, some of these restrictions still have to be waved through by the Higher Regional Court of Catalonia, as “fundamental rights are violated,” explained Plaja.
Incidence in Catalonia rises to 448
Nowhere in Spain is the situation as serious as it is in the popular holiday region on the border with France, which has just introduced compulsory vaccination for certain occupational groups. With these drastic measures, the region is doing everything it can to avoid slipping further into the corona whirlpool – even if tourism will apparently suffer from these regulations. With a number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days of 448, these steps are hardly surprising.
At the same time, these are not the first steps to counter the increase in new corona infections. Even if there is not yet a ban on dancing in bars and clubs like in Greece, the Catalan regional government had already a week ago ordered the indoor areas of all nightly entertainment venues to be closed. It didn’t help much. Nevertheless, the incidence in Catalonia rose again to unimagined heights.
Despite dizzying incidence in Catalonia, beaches and bars are overcrowded
Despite the high incidence, according to Spanish media reports, the beaches as well as the hotels, pubs and shops in the Catalan capital Barcelona and the coastal communities are sometimes completely overcrowded during the holiday season.
The next few days, weeks and months, then have to show which strategy will ultimately pay off. Because while Catalonia is closing its bars and beaches and the Corona events are slowing down the easing in the Netherlands, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his cabinet are treading completely different Covid-19 paths.
Because the United Kingdom officially declared that July 19, 2021 will be declared “Freedom Day” and that Great Britain will drop almost all corona rules despite an incidence of over 300. * Kreiszeitung.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
List of rubric lists: © Paco Freire / dpa & Matthias Oesterle / IMAGO
