“It’s heaven not to feel suffocated with masks“, said Manuela García yesterday while shopping without it for the first time in two years. She strolled through the aisles of the Mercat Nou with a smile that, for 700 days, “no one had seen”. “I’m older, but I already have four vaccinations and I take good care of myself,” she acknowledged, so being able to go without a face mask in most indoor spaces is a relief for her. She recalled that the mask did not allow her to breathe properly.
Very close to her, also shopping in the market, were sisters Marta and Nuria Oller. The difference is that they were wearing masks out of “caution”. Although they respect all those who choose not to wear masks, they believe that “the pandemic is not over yet”, so they will continue to wear them in closed spaces. “ I think we are going to have a resurgence of covid this summer, which is what has always happened when we have relaxed. We haven’t caught the virus and we don’t want to either”, said Nuria with a laugh.
And among the vendors, there’s a bit of everything: there are those who will continue to wear it and those who have decided that it is time to take the next step. Among the latter are the fishmongers Alejandro Martín and Carmen Moya . “It’s a relief”, said Martin, who described the decision by the central government as “progress” to achieve complete normality. Moya was somewhat disgruntled and, although she is in favor of removing the mask, she said that “there may be customers, especially the elderly, who may be put off by the fact that I don’t wear a mask and that they can choose to buy from those who do wear them”. However, the distance between the customer and the vendor at the stalls exceeds one and a half meters.
Where are masks mandatory?
The Council of Ministers approved on Tuesday the new rule that allows going without a mask in most inside spaces and which came into force yesterday with its publication in the Official State Bulletin (BOE).
Therefore, masks are now only mandatory on public transport (buses and cabs) and in enclosed spaces of boats in which the 1.5 metre distance cannot be maintained. It will also be mandatory in health and social-health centers. As for residences, it will not be mandatory for users as it is considered to be their home, but it will be mandatory for workers and visitors.
In remaining workplaces, the law does not establish it as mandatory, but it will depend on the decision taken by the occupational risk prevention services of each company.
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