The Balearic health ministry has announced new restrictions for Mallorca. Social and family gatherings are to be reduced from ten to six people, unless people are living together. For celebrations, capacities are to be cut to 25 indoors and 50 outdoors. Activity in places of worships is to be reduced to 30%, and it is recommended that people should not sing.
Sitting by bars in hospitality establishments is to be banned, and the maximum number of people per table will be six. In shopping centres, capacity is to be cut to 50%. The sale of alcohol after 10pm is prohibited. In sports establishments, the maximum capacity will be reduced to 30%, and group activities cannot exceed fifteen people.
The measures will come into effect on Saturday, which is when they will be published on the Official Bulletin. An exception is for weddings. The new capacities will not apply until November 1.
Presenting these restrictions, health minister Patricia Gómez thanked the public for efforts they have been making. These have made the Balearics one of three regions with the best data, but she warned that the pandemic is accelerating and that the islands are not immune from what is happening in the rest of the world.
Although the measures will initially apply for fifteen days, they are likely to remain in place for a few months and coincide with the time of year when people are more likely to be indoors.
Gómez added that current data in Spain and Europe indicate the need to establish restrictive measures which help to reduce Covid-19 transmission rates and therefore avoid increases in cases which could bring about the collapse of health services.