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ARCHIVED - Uncertainty over Covid restrictions next week as the state of emergency ends in Spain on Saturday
The Murcia government is seeking ways to prolong the ban on inter-regional travel
The 6-month state of national emergency in Spain comes to an end at midnight this Saturday, and there is still great uncertainty surrounding concerning what measures the regional governments will be able to enforce as they seek to guard against any resurgence in the Covid pandemic which has disrupted life for the last 15 months.
In the Region of Murcia the government appears anxious to maintain the right to restrict travel into and out of the Region other than in exceptional circumstances, but the only legal certainty at present is that individual municipalities can be locked down if Covid incidence rates rise alarmingly. This is the strategy which was adopted for a while last summer, when there was no national state of emergency, in Totana, Lorca and Jumilla, but there are doubts over whether a ban on inter-regional travel might be in excess of the powers of regional administrations.
In this context the neighbouring regions of the Comunidad Valenciana and Castilla-La Mancha have already confirmed that they will be lifting their travel bans this weekend, but the Murcia government is reportedly examining means by which legal justification for an extension of the restriction could be produced.
Meanwhile, the end of the state of emergency means that might-time curfews will no longer be a possibility, although regional governments may opt to enforce earlier closing times on establishments which are considered non-essential.
The cautious attitude adopted by the Murcia government may seem excessive to some - especially those in the tourism sector who are hoping to welcome visitors from other parts of Spain as soon as possible! – but Juan José Pedreño, the head of the Health department, insists that it is justified. Incidence rates in Murcia fell last week but this followed a gradual increase during the previous fortnight, and although the fourth wave of infection has affected the Region less than other parts of Spain and the vaccination campaign is now progressing well, the arrival of new variants of Covid-19 means that there is always a chance of the downward curve being reversed.
For the rest of this week, in the vast majority of Murcia the pandemic restrictions remain unchanged, so for example the number of people gathering together on bar terraces and other outdoor spaces is limited to six (and four at indoor tables). But the regional health service is now in charge of deciding on what the rules will be from Sunday onwards, and with the legal position unclear it is becoming a race against time!