Spain’s Andalusia to allow travel between provinces after a three-month wait
Andalusia’s regional government has announced that provincial border closures will be lifted on Thursday April 29th, whilst the region’s borders and other restrictions remain in place.
Travel between Andalusia’s 8 provinces will be possible again on Thursday after three months of border closures to stem the spread of Covid-19 infections.
Andalusian regional president Juanma Moreno made the announcement after meeting with the committee of experts that advises the Andalusian Government on the management of the coronavirus crisis.
Residents of Andalusia will therefore be able to travel again to Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga and Seville provinces without having to provide a justified reason for crossing their provincial borders.
However, many of the other restrictions in the region will remain in place until at least May 9th, which marks the end of Spain’s state of alarm.
These are:
Andalusia’s regional borders closure will remain, with travelers having to provide a justified reason to leave or enter the autonomous community, such as going to health or educational centres, to take care of elderly relatives or dependants, to return to a usual place of residence or work/administrative reasons.
The curfew from 11 pm to 6 am will continue.
A maximum of 6 people can meet outdoors and 4 indoors in bars and restaurants.
Shops and bars can stay open until 10.30 pm. Restaurants can stay open an extra half an hour, but that coincides with the curfew time.
Municipal border closures will remain in places where the infection rate has surpassed 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. In the majority of cases, shops and bars can stay open in these municipalities until 10.30 pm.
Municipalities, where the infection rate is over 1,000 cases per 100,000 people, have to keep all non-essential retailers and services closed.
Andalusia, Spain’s largest and most populated region with 8.4 million inhabitants, currently has a fortnightly infection rate of 237 cases per 100,000, a rate which has been dropping gradually over the past days.
A total of 8.2 percent of its population has received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine; 21 percent have received at least one dose.
Published The Local 29 April 20210