UPDATE: Masks remain mandatory in indoor public spaces in Spain

UPDATE: Masks remain mandatory in indoor public spaces in Spain.

MASKS remain mandatory in indoor public spaces in Spain despite the rule being officially scrapped for outdoor use across the country on Thursday, February 10. Here we will update you with further details.
Following a Royal Decree to scrap the mandatory use of masks outdoors in Spain, which was published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on Wednesday, February 9, there has been some confusion as to whether the rule has been ditched for indoor use too.
So let’s clear things up.

Face masks in Spain must be worn in the following locations and under these circumstances:

• In any closed (indoor) space for public use or that is open to the public.
• At mass events that take place in open-air spaces, when attendees are standing. If they are seated, it will be mandatory when a safety distance of at least 1.5 metres cannot be maintained between people, except groups of co-habitants.
• On public transport, including air transport, bus, rail, cable car, including on the platforms at passenger stations and terminals, as well as in public vehicles (taxis) – and also private passenger vehicles of up to nine seats, including the driver, if the occupants of these passenger vehicles do not live at the same address.
• In closed spaces on ships and boats when the safety distance of 1.5 metres cannot be maintained.

Exceptions to the above include:

• People who present some type of illness or difficulty “that may be aggravated by the use of a face mask or that, due to their situation of disability or dependency, do not have the ability to remove the mask, or present behavioural changes that make its use unfeasible”.
• In the event that, due to the very nature of the activities, the use of the face mask is incompatible.
• In those places or closed spaces for public use that are part of the place of residence of the groups that meet there, such as the institutions for the care of the elderly or disabled, or units intended for collective residence of essential workers or other groups that have similar characteristics. This last exception does not apply to external visitors.

On February 9 as part of the process outlined by Spain’s Health Minister Carolina Darias to abandon the outdoor mask mandate, the BOE was updated with the royal decree, which noted the above exceptions to the rule.
It must also be noted that the use of masks is still being recommended in crowds, according to Spanish guidelines.

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