Costa del Sol bars & restaurants receiving fines for flouting Spain’s Phase 1 restrictions more than DOUBLES over weekend

According to Malaga’s police, the number of bars and restaurants receiving fines for flouting Spain’s Phase 1 de-escalation restrictions more than doubled over the weekend.

THE police issued around 2,798 warnings since hospitality establishments have opened their terraces to the public, on Monday May 18. Of those, around 1,229 received warnings just over the weekend.

However, the number of fines issued more than doubled for establishments flouting Phase 1 restrictions. Around 13 bars/restaurants received fines between Monday and Friday of last week. However, the number of sanctions have more than doubled to 30, with 17 slapped with fines just over the weekend, according to Malaga’s law and enforcement authorities.

Most establishments were sanctioned for having too many customers in their bar/restaurant terraces, when they are supposed to be limited to just 50% of capacity, ensuring that tables are two metres apart. However, there have been some cases of bars that have been fined for allowing the use of a shared cachimba (shisha/water pipe). Some were sanctioned for allowing customers to drink/dine inside of their establishments, which is not allowed until Phase 2, while others were guilty of failing to comply with health and safety measures, such as providing customers with hand disinfectant/sanitizer gel.