Spain finally declares the end of the COVID-19 health crisis

Wednesday 5th July 2023
Mike Smith

The official state bulletin BOE Number 159, dated Wednesday 5th July, has published details of the Ministry of Health’s statement SND/726/2023 04/07/23 which declares that the health crisis situation in Spain caused by COVID-19 is finally over after more than three years of various measures to deal with the nature of the disease as it spread through the country.

BOE-A-2023-15552 explained that, after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the emergency situation caused by COVID-19 to be a global pandemic on March 11th 2020, the Spanish Government issued Royal Decree 463/2020, dated March 14th 2020, which declared a state of alarm in order to manageme of the health crisis situation in the country.

As several waves of the virus ebbed and flowed across the country, the Government issued a series of extensions and additional measures, strengthening its objective to protect the population as much as possible from the disease. Amongst those was the mandatory use of face masks in all places outside of the home, especially when using public transport and visiting the chemist or local health centres and hospitals.

In April 2022, the Government announced that the wearing of face masks indoors will no longer be mandatory, except on public transport and in health centres, but strongly recommended that the “responsible use of the mask” continue, especially for vulnerable groups such as the over-60s, pregnant women, and immunosuppressed patients if social distancing couldn’t be maintained.

Now, in July 2023, with the declaration of the health crisis in Spain being finally over, face masks no longer have to be worn in chemists, in health centres and hospitals and in residences. However, the Government insists that its use is still recommended in some cases, such as operating rooms or the ICU, which already happened before the Covid-19 crisis.

It has been three years, three months and 20 days since the declaration of the health crisis in Spain. During those years, the population endured a seven-week full lockdown, a phased de-escalation, travel restrictions, curfews, and all manner of measures which sought to slow down and even halt the transmission of the disease.

Back in March 2020, none of us had any idea of the long-term disruption to our lives that would have to accept for so long. But now it’s officially over.