Spain's health minister, Carolina Darias, explained on Saturday that businesses will decide whether masks should continue to be worn indoors. On Wednesday, new regulation regarding mask-wearing will come into force for the whole of Spain. Masks indoors will no longer be obligatory, but with certain exceptions - public transport, care homes for the elderly, health centres and hospitals.
The minister said that companies' occupational risk prevention services will determine areas where it may be necessary to continue wearing masks. The decree governing the new regulation says that "masks will no longer be mandatory in certain interior spaces", meaning that there is scope for businesses to enforce mask-wearing if they believe this is necessary.
Asked about the impact of the regulatory change, given a potential increase in Covid infections because of the Easter holidays, Darias insisted that the current situation "has nothing to do with previous ones". She accepted that increases in incidence have occurred in some regions after holiday periods but that these haven't led to increased hospitalisation.