Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Friday, June 18 to lift the mandatory outdoors face mask from Saturday, June 26 onward.
Speaking at a business conference in Barcelona, the Socialist Party (PSOE) chief explained that the government would hold an extraordinary Cabinet meeting to discuss the proposal.
“This weekend will be the last one with masks in outdoor spaces because the next weekend we will no longer wear them,” Sanchez told an event in Barcelona.
He said the cabinet will meet on June 24 to approve the lifting of the mask-wearing rule from June 26.
The move comes at a time when other European countries such as France and Germany are also relaxing the rules on the use of face masks. What’s more, the vacation season will be getting into full swing in Spain at the start of July. Tourists visiting the country and residents alike will now not have to wear the coverings while outdoors and enjoying their holidays.
Masks will still be required, however, when a safe distance of 1.5 meters cannot be maintained with people outside your closest social bubble, according to technical documents that the country’s regions have agreed with the Health Ministry.
Spain currently has very strict mask rules in place, including their required use outdoors by everyone aged six and over even when social distancing can be observed. But many health experts have been calling for an end to mask-wearing outdoors for some time now, given that there is no evidence that their use when there are no crowds, is effective.