Isha Sesay
THE Government of the Balearic Islands has indicated that the interior of bars and restaurants in Mallorca will be able to be used by the public from next week.
Revealing the next step of the de-escalation plan, government spokesperson, Iago Negueruela, said: “If the data is positive, we will relax the restrictions.”
Negueruela went on to explain that on Friday, it is expected that the government will authorise the use of the interiors of bars and restaurants from March 15.
The minister did however warn of the importance for the island to undergo a ‘de-escalation in stages to avoid another surge in infections’, seen in the previous phases of the pandemic.
This he said would inevitably lead to a ‘new wave of the health crisis’, and one that is ‘more dangerous given the prevalence of the British variant of the virus’.
Negueruela also asked local business owners to ensure that the rules are followed in bars and restaurants and as a result of the 300 penalties handed out over the weekend, they will be given a ‘wake-up call’ with increased surveillance and controls in some areas.
The news comes after the Spanish Minister for Tourism, Maria Reyes Maroto, described Spain as ‘the most active champions of digital vaccine passports’.
In the same statement, Maroto referred to a pilot scheme from last year which granted thousands of German tourists entry to the Balearic islands a week before Spain officially reopened its borders to international travel.
“We were pioneers with the Balearic travel corridor, by becoming the only country to open during the pandemic, and we’re working on being pioneers again and putting our foot on the accelerator,” she explained.
“We have created an inter-ministerial commission presided over by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to facilitate the use of digital Covid certificates and be able to launch a pilot project to test their efficiency when the pandemic allows us to.”
