Puig announces that night curfew will be lifted and nightclubs permitted to open next week

Thursday 3rd June 2021 – Compiled by MIKE SMITH

Ximp Puig, president of the Generalitat Valenciana, has announced that the night curfew will be lifted and nightclubs will be able to open until 2.00am across the Comunidad Valenciana as part of a range of updated measures which will come into force on Tuesday 8th June and will remain in place until at least the end of the month.

For the past eleven weeks, the region has remained in the ‘low risk’ category for the spread of the coronavirus infection, with the current 14-day IA rate just above 35 infections per 100,000 inhabitants, still the lowest in mainland Spain. Puig said that the gradual and prudent de-escalation of restrictions has allowed the Comunidad Valenciana to be “the safest destination in Europe”.

Thus, a meeting of the Interdepartment Forum for the management and prevention of COVID-19 has determined that almost seven and half months of night curfew can come to an end, whilst the nightlife sector, which has been forced to close its doors for the past ten months, will be able to re-open, albeit with some restrictions.

Nightclubs can open up to 50% of their interior space and 100% of the capacity of outside terraces if the required safety distances set by the health authorities are complied with. It is proposed that there will be a maximum of six people per table inside the venue and ten per table on outside terraces. Dancing will not be permitted.

The Generalitat has also extended the permitted opening hours for bars and restaurants to 1.00am but they cannot welcome new customers after 12 midnight. But it has been decided not to extend the limit on the number of people on a table or group of tables. However, the limit is lifted on social gatherings elsewhere.

The president has acknowledged that there has been a gradual rise in infection spread in recent days and has appealed to the population to maintain prudence to allow “progressive opening” to continue because “the virus is still here”. He also called on towns to limit their San Juan festivities this month to avoid large social gatherings: “There cannot be a normal San Juan because we are not in a normal situation”.

He added, however, that the key to defeating the COVID-19 pandemic is to accelerate mass vaccination and he confirmed that half the population of the region has received at least one dose of vaccine and it is forecast that Valencia will reach July “in the best possible condition” to reactive the social and economic sectors.

He has also advocated the elimination of the mandatory use of masks on beaches in natural areas “sooner rather than later” as he considers that “it has been shown that they are the safest places”. However, the Generalitat Valenciana is committed to maintain the use of masks everywhere else and the president has called for “harmonization” across the whole of Spain regarding the regulations on the the mandatory use of them. For the moment, face masks remain mandatory at before.

Full details will be issued on the DOGV platform.