The week's most confusing minister
So, which ministers were most to blame for spreading complete confusion last week? Definitely in the frame were the transport minister, José Luis Ábalos, and the tourism minister, Reyes Maroto, he having said that travel between regions could be on the cards in Phase 3, and she having announced that Spain's borders with France and Portugal were going to be opened on the first day of the new normal (which in case you've forgotten will be 22 June, except for anywhere in Spain where it isn't).
The transport minister was promptly reminded of who wears the de-escalation trousers in the Spanish government. It is the health minister. Salvador Illa insisted that there most certainly won't be travel between regions in Phase 3; only once the new normal starts (subject to the new normal applying). Meanwhile, the tourism minister almost managed to create a diplomatic incident. The Portuguese foreign affairs minister let it be known that Spain's intention to open the border was news to him and reminded Madrid that this wasn't a decision that it could take on its own. Oh, it had only been a "tentative" date, the Spanish government was swiftly forced to state.
Ending quarantine
Tentative or not, had the tourism minister forgotten that foreign tourism wouldn't be starting until the first of July? European Union immediate neighbours may not be as foreign as Finland, say, but they're still foreign. Moreover, there was still the business with the quarantine.
And so there was, except where it won't apply, as in the Balearics from the start of the new normal, because Pedro Sánchez had apparently told President Armengol that it wouldn't during last Sunday's regional presidents' video conflab. Or might the quarantine cease to apply a week before, with German test tourists being bound for the Balearics while the state of alarm is still in force, assuming that the Balearics hasn't unilaterally lifted the state of alarm (and it is just possible that the Balearics might be able to)?
The final extension
It's probably fair to say that we can hardly wait for the first of July. At least by then we won't have ministers tangling dates up and we won't any longer need to concern ourselves with fathoming out phases, who can travel where and when, the quarantine or indeed the state of alarm. And this, the state of alarm, will definitively end in two weeks time. Happy days indeed, the prime minister having secured his final extension amidst what has become the normal political set-to in Congress.
Contagion versus outbreak
The health authorities were meanwhile tying themselves up in knots with the official data for cases, and the regional spokesperson for the coronavirus management committee, Javier Arranz, explained the difference between contagion and an outbreak. There is a difference. Eleven people from the same family in Son Gotleu (Palma) who had tested positive constituted a contagion and not an outbreak. So, that came as a relief, as did a more reassuringly familiar contribution from the national ministry of health than ones we have had over the past three months. The ministry issued its annual high temperatures advice. Don't overdo the alcohol, take physical activity during the coolest parts of the day, and so on. The advice is the same every year, but it was nevertheless nice to have some normality.
Magalluf and its type of tourism
With Magalluf currently and most unusually not being a focus of attention, Balearic tourism minister Iago Negueruela sought to rectify this by issuing a reminder about the tourism of excesses decree. Having got wind of (apparent) British party promotions for this summer, he stressed that the government will be "especially vigilant" with regard to "this type of tourism". And whatever type of tourism there will be, it's unlikely to be until the middle of July. The president of the Palmanova-Magalluf Hoteliers Association, Mauricio Carbadella, believed that only towards the end of July and the start of August will there be real activity.