Laurence Dollimore
ANDALUCIA will make travel between provinces legal from June 8 if it is handed the powers to do so.
Vice president of the Junta Juan Marin told a forum this morning that the plan will depend on Madrid giving back the regions full control of the so-called de-escalation plan.
“We will respect the rules, but we will allow mobility,” said Marin, speaking at the Europa Press forum in Sevilla.
“The Andalucians, like the rest of Spain, want to be able to move and to be guaranteed security…if on the 8th it is allowed to authorise mobility within the region, it will be done.”
The privilege has already been awarded to the Basque Country, but denied to the rest of the country.
It comes after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced he would be giving back most powers to the regions this week.
But allowing for movement between provinces would be kept up to the national government, with the possibility of moving around Spain set to return on June 21.
But transport minister Jose Luis Abalos told TVE this morning that allowing for travel between provinces which are in the same phase of the de-escalation plan is being studied, hence Marin’s statement at today’s forum.
Marin added: “In addition to losing the fear of the virus, we have to learn to live with it, and if we are in the same phase, why shouldn’t travel be allowed?”
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He said that he often travels between Sevilla and Cadiz, adding that if the same measures are being adopted in both provinces, ‘what is the difference between being in either one?’
The VP is also confident that Malaga and Granada will pass into Phase 3 with the other six provinces next Monday.
It comes after Junta president Juanma Moreno demanded to Madrid that the two provinces, which are a week behind the rest of the region, be allowed to skip a week of Phase 2 to catch up.
“You cannot allow a sector like tourism to freeze,” added Marin.
Opening the borders within Andalucia would likely see a mini boom in tourism, both along the likes of the Costa del Sol but also in big city destinations such as Sevilla, Granada or Cordoba.
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It comes after a nationwide survey found that more than 30% of Spaniards would choose Andalucia for a national holiday once they were permitted to travel post-lockdown.
