Bars & restaurants set to reopen in Madrid as Spain sheds more lockdown measures

Patrons will soon be welcomed back to Madrid’s bars and restaurants, marking a positive milestone in Spain’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The nation had one of the strictest lockdowns in Europe.

Eateries and watering holes in the Spanish capital are scheduled to resume operations on Monday, under a phased plan for reopening the city. Smaller cities and municipalities were permitted to open their bars and restaurants last week.

The new provisions come with some conditions, however. Establishments can only serve customers in outdoor terraces, with a capacity limit of 50%. Revelers will also be limited to groups of ten. A local media outlet visited a popular bar in the city, where employees were already arranging outside seating in anticipation of their reopening.

Spain, which instituted one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns on March 14, has been gradually easing restrictions. Last week, around 70 percent of the country entered ‘phase one’, which allows for eateries, cinemas, museums and other cultural venues to reopen, though at reduced capacity. The strict lockdown measures caused protests across the country last week, with people saying the government used the crisis to consolidate power.

The country has had over 233,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19, resulting in nearly 28,000 deaths, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.

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