Alex Trelinski
SPAIN is ending the mandatory outdoor wearing of masks a week on Saturday (June 26).
Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, announced the news on Friday morning in Barcelona.
Many of the country’s 17 regions have been calling for the change for some time due to low COVID-19 infection rates.
The news comes as no surprise especially as Spain’s top medical expert, Fernando Simon, gave his backing to the proposal earlier this week.
Masks will still have to be worn if a minimum distance of 1.5 metres between people cannot be maintained.
Indoor mask-wearing rules will continue for the time being.
At the end of a speech this morning, Pedro Sanchez said that he would ‘convene a special meeting of the Council of Ministers on June 24 to approve the measure’.
“This will be the last weekend with masks in open spaces,” he proclaimed.
Sanchez said the move had been prompted by the ‘good progress of the pandemic in the country’ and ‘improving epidemiological indicators’.
“Our faces will return to their normal appearance in the coming days,” the PM concluded.
READ MORE SANCHEZ SET TO RELAX OUTDOOR MASK RULES
