Laurence Dollimore
PEOPLE from outside Andalucia are permitted to travel to the region to visit family and close friends from today.
Until and including January 6, according to the BOJA, it is permitted for anyone to travel to the southernmost region to visit ‘their habitual family home or the home of close friends, purely for the purpose of gathering the family together over the Christmas period.’
The new measure, as any other, is protected by the state of alarm declared on October 25, which gives regional governments the power to bring in restrictions without a legal challenge.
Andalucia had vowed to remove the term ‘close friends’ from its Christmas travel reprieve but changed its mind following ‘pressure and insistence’ from the central Government in Madrid, reports Europa Press.
As has been permitted since December 18, travel is still allowed between Andalucia’s eight provinces.
Meanwhile, the festive period will also see the starting time of the curfew extended to 1:30am on the night of Christmas Eve, finishing as usual at 6am on Christmas Day.
The exceptions to the curfew will continue to remain the same i.e. travelling for work or to care for a dependent.
Lunches and dinners on December 24 and 25 will also see the current rule of six increased to a maximum of 10.
The number cannot be increased, neither indoors nor outdoors, except in the case of cohabitants.
The Junta said: “It is recommended that any lunches/dinners be made up of members from the same household, with no more than two separate households meeting.”
President Juanma Moreno will next meet with the experts to decide whether or not the Christmas plan will continue as is on December 28.
Currently, the curfew is also planned to be extended to 1:30am on New Year’s Eve, but that could change if figures worsen over the next week.
