BARCELONA (Reuters) – On Saturday, beaches in Catalonia were packed as beautiful spring weather attracted sun worshipers despite government warnings to avoid violating COVID-19 restrictions.
In Barcelona, Tarragona and other popular cities along the coast of the northeastern Spanish region, crowds gathered on the beaches, some without masks or ignoring social distances.
Dozens of partygoers had danced on a popular beach near the center of Barcelona on Friday, a number of violations of rules intended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, police said on Saturday.
The impromptu party took place on Barceloneta Beach, and police said they had told revelers they were violating health regulations.
“Barcelona is the perfect place to party, drink, but this is a big deal – the police – they stop people having a good time,” a British reveler who only gave his first name Liam, 32, and who wore a mask, said Reuters.
Elsewhere, police raided an illegal party at a bar in Sant Feliu de Llobregat, near Barcelona, on Friday and fined 33 people for violating COVID-19 restrictions, the Mossos d “Escuadra, the Catalan Regional Police.
Gatherings of more than six people in public areas are prohibited in Catalonia, and offenders can face fines of 300 to 600 euros ($ 350 to $ 700), police said.
“Our agents advise people where there are large groups of people that they are breaking the restrictions and that they can sometimes be fined if they do not put on masks or leave,” said a spokesman for the Catalan regional police. He did not say if anyone had been fined for the Barceloneta party.
Miquel Samper, the Catalan regional interior minister, told RAC1 radio on Saturday that people should wear masks when mingling with others on the beach, but do not need them when sunbathing or swimming in the sea – guidelines that differ from national legislation.
Catalonia is one of many Spanish regions to defy a law passed on Wednesday requiring people to wear masks outdoors, regardless of whether the safety distance of 1.5 meters is respected.
After mounting criticism, the Spanish government has said the mask law would be revised, but not when a revision took place.
($ 1 = 0.8502 euros)
Reporting by Graham Keeley Editing by David Holmes