President Armengol said on Monday that consideration is being given to allowing large stores and shopping centres to open at weekends. Talks will be held with business associations this week. If weekend opening is agreed, this will be confirmed at a cabinet meeting on Friday.
Armengol added that each island has a different health situation. There will, therefore, be different proposals for the individual islands. "At present, the health situation is improving greatly on all four islands. But we must continue to be very cautious, as the UK strain accounts for 70% of new cases in Mallorca."
The president explained that rising incidence of the virus in certain countries, such as Germany, "is making us believe that we are not safe". Caution and "a very slow de-escalation" must be applied.
With regard to shopping centres, she said that the government wants to allow "more freedom, if the health conditions permit this". She stressed that "everyone has to be abide by the regulations". "It is important that proprietors ensure that these are complied with in their establishments." Armengol noted that "unfortunately" there were many inspections at the weekend and that "many sanctions were imposed for non-compliance".
"This is a wake-up call. It is important that infections do not rise again, and this depends on us all. If we comply with the rules, we can continue with the de-escalation. If not, the government will have no other choice but to go back to certain measures."