Ibiza, Mallorca, Menorca: Spanish holiday islands to make masks mandatory

Authorities in the Balearic Islands off eastern Spain plan to make the wearing of masks mandatory outdoors from this weekend.

Authorities in the Balearic Islands off eastern Spain plan to make the wearing of masks mandatory outdoors from this weekend. The island group in the Mediterranean Sea is a popular European vacation destination. It includes the islands of Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca.

People wearing protective masks walk along the Barceloneta beach after Catalonia's regional authorities decided to make mandatory the use of face masks in public at all times, during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Barcelona, Spain July 9, 2020. (REUTERS)

Throughout Spain, masks are mandatory in shared indoor spaces and outdoors when distance can’t be maintained.

A vendor selling face masks waits for customers at a stall in a market in Barcelona on Wednesday, July 8, 2020. Spain's northeastern Catalonia region will make mandatory the use of face masks outdoors even when social distancing can be maintained, regional chief Quim Torra announced Wednesday. (AP)

Authorities in the Balearic Islands are tightening restrictions after detecting three new outbreaks this week in Mallorca. Previously, officials reported five other outbreaks on that island and another in Ibiza.

The islands’ health chief, Patricia Gómez, said in an interview Thursday with Cadena SER radio station that officials are putting final touches to the new rules and hoped to implement them from Friday or Saturday.

Gómez said officials may limit the number of people who can gather in one place. Exceptions are likely to include people on beaches, at swimming pools and practising sport.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)

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