Making a beach in Spain, a mask bound to be held in water

The beginning of spring restored high temperatures with warm weather, enough to enjoy the sea, mainly on weekends. But if in recent years, Spain was expecting the first tourists since March, mainly British vacationers, the Coronavirus pandemic, seem to have left its consequences a year ago.

The Majorca Coast is empty, far from the usual sight of tourists, noises, parties and luxury yachts at its ports.

Usually in April, there are almost 2 million Britons and 1.4 million German tourists visiting the Majorca Islands, but not half of them have traveled to Spain this year, despite the removal of mandatory quarantine during their journey from country to country.

The number of foreign visitors to Spain dropped to 19 million total during 2020, the lowest level since 1969, while the contribution of this industry to domestic production of Bruto in the country exceeded 4%, according to data from the National Data Institute, far from 12% contributed in 2019.

Along with the decline in the number of tourists, revenues in the budget from tourism dropped significantly year-on-year. But economic experts have an even more negative forecast for this year, when they say 2021 is expected to be much worse than last year. Being one of the EU countries most visited in recent years, Spain has suffered more than any other country the consequences of pandemic, along with France.

Tourist agencies speak of a high demand for tourist packages to Spain in the third quarter of this year -- that is, the July-September period by the end of the year, but according to experts, that is not enough to compensate for losses for more than a year.

But this year, there seem to be some limits to beach entertainment. With the increase in the number of new daily cases, the Spanish Health Minister said that protective masks, from April 1st, will be held by every citizen, even at the beach, not only in the public environment but in the water, when swimming, a decision that has sparked criticism and panic.

Under the legislation, currently in force, protective masks are binding for every adult in open environments, on beaches, swimming pools or walkers off the coast. Even in the sand, vacationers must respect social distance, standing five feet apart.

For some, this measure is too much for others.

Laura Santacana: We have to put up with things until a certain point. Should we be careful? Yeah. But that's too much. There is no way to live a normal”

Patxi Belki: I think everything about helping this situation is a good thing. Beach masks or other public spaces are good. We have to do everything we can to help curb the spread of the coronary”.

On La Concha Beach, where many residents enjoy the warm weather every day, Surfist Jose Aquavivas says that masks also help curb the spread of Avid-19, even though masks in the water are annoying.

Jose Aquavas: I know we're making an effort to save the summer season and at such a good time in San Sebastian, I think the new legislation protects us because it's clear that everyone is coming to the beach. But it's a little annoying because you can't get into the sea in a mask, that was one of the few freedoms left. Now we have to worry about not getting fine”.

Iban Alonso: I think it's okay. At the end of the day, it's like going to a bar. If you don't go to eat, you have to wear the mask, it'll be the same when you swim. There's nothing to wear your mask”

Jon Ander: I think wearing a mask on the beach is like keeping it on the street. It doesn't bother you that much. It's like on the street. I think it's a necessary measure because the cases are growing a lot”.

Tourist agencies themselves say that the new measures in force are a threat to this summer season, following losses recorded in a pandemic year. They hope that these measures will be temporary and will not deter foreign tourists from visiting Spain this year.