Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Aug 21, 2026

Madrid bars back in business – beaches open elsewhere in Spain

Madrid bars back in business – beaches open elsewhere in Spain

After ten weeks of coronavirus confinement, on Monday 25, Madrid residents were able to go to bars, although only on the terraces, while elsewhere in Spain, where the number covid cases is lower people are now able to go to the beach.
On a street in the historic center of the capital, the San Ginés chocolate factory, famous for its churros with chocolate, had six of the usual 13 tables set up on its terrace this morning, to guarantee the safety distance. The indoor areas remain closed for customers.

"We have been open for 125 years, and it is the first time that we have been closed like this," said the manager, Daniel Real.

"Soon we will open 24 hours as before, but right now the night shift is suppressed, due to the absence of tourists and because the disco next door, which usually brings us many clients, is still closed."

The parks, starting with the Retiro, also opened, after ten weeks of closing.

"It gives me some peace that the Retiro is open again, it comforts me," says Rosa San José, a 50-year-old high school teacher, who came to the park for a walk in sports clothes and wearing a mask, before starting teleworking from her home.

The Spanish capital, as well as Barcelona and its metropolitan area and a part of the Castilla y León region (north), entered on Monday the first phase of the progressive lack of confidence proposed by the Spanish government, which had already started the rest of the country.

In this stage, the terraces of the bars, the spaces of worship and museums or libraries are allowed to open, always with limited capacity and keeping safety distances, as well as meetings for up to ten people.

In the last week, Spain managed to contain the mortality of the epidemic below one hundred deaths per day. Even so, it is one of the most punished countries in the world with more than 28,700 deaths and some 235,000 confirmed positive for coronavirus.

Besides Madrid, the other major focus of coronavirus has been Barcelona and its metropolitan area.

On the promenade of the old fishing district of Barceloneta, the revival left images similar to those of Madrid this Monday.

Barcelona residents can walk, swim or run on the beach from this Monday onwards, but must wait to the opening of the next phase in order to sunbathe.

On the other hand, in the regions that began the ease of control two weeks ago and are already in the second phase of de-climbing, the beaches can open for recreational reasons and the bars can use their interior spaces.

This is the case of the Balearic or Canary archipelagoes, the north coast and much of Andalusia, where the Ministry of Health asked that local authorities control access to beaches and the safety distance between bathers.

In its recommendations, Sanidad decided to separate the umbrellas four meters apart and delimit strips in the sand, something that in some municipalities did with colored ribbons, dividing the beach into numerous squares, one for each group.

At the moment, everything is focused on the local customer. International tourists, who are required to be in their forties for fourteen days when they enter the country, will be able to start returning to Spain "from July," as announced on Saturday by the head of government, Pedro Sánchez, in order to once again promote arrivals from foreigners to the second tourist destination in the world, where this sector represents 12% of GDP.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez Sign Prenup Protecting Their Separate Fortunes
Google Launches Pixel 11 With Gemini AI at the Center of Its Hardware Strategy
Turkish Parliament Passes Landmark Bill Granting Conditional Amnesty to Disarmed PKK Members
Jorge Messi, Lionel Messi’s Father and Longtime Agent, Dies at 68
AI’s Next Bottleneck Is Power, Not Just Nvidia Chips
Meta Raises AI Spending Target to as Much as $145bn Despite Pressure Over Returns
Joe Biden’s Cancer Has Spread Beyond His Bones, Hunter Biden Says
Why 2027 Could Be a Strong Year for Stocks—and Why the Forecast Is Fragile
Why Markets May Look Quiet in August After Big Tech Earnings
Trump’s Top General Seeks an Exit Strategy From Iran War, Report Says
Brock Lesnar Retires From Wrestling, Closing a Career of Rare Athletic Range and Lasting Controversy
UFO: Pentagon Releases Video of Unidentified Object Tracked Over Middle East
Ukraine Tells Senate Republicans Its Drone War Offers a Blueprint for America
Weight-Loss Drug Boom Tests the Limits of Prescription Advertising Rules
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan Sign Mutual-Defence Pact
AI Is Remaking the US Economy, From GDP Growth to iPhone Prices
A SpaceX Rocket Is About to Crash Into the Moon — and Scientists Hope to Watch
Modern Slavery Decisions Broaden the Al Fayed Inquiry’s Frame
FIFA’s Retreat Leaves a Larger Question Over Who Guards the Game
Finland Deploys Commercial-Scale Thermal Batteries Using Crushed Rock to Store Renewable Grid Energy
Valued at $109 Million: F-35B Fighter Jet Crashes in Southern California
US Says It Has Carried Out Heavy Strikes on Iran After Attempted Attacks on Its Forces
Over 24 Hours in the Air: Qantas Airbus Completes Record-Breaking Test Flight
Arrest Warrant Issued in Lebanon for Tycoon Spotted Meeting Netanyahu in Washington
Trump says Israel ‘would not survive’ without US
Nvidia Reportedly Takes Vast Texas Data-Centre Lease to Underwrite AI Expansion
FIFA’s Private-Investment Plan for World Cup Rights Draws European Revolt
Following OpenAI's Cyberattack: 'Most Companies Still Do Not Understand What Is Coming'
OpenAI Sued After ChatGPT Allegedly Discouraged Emergency Care Before Near-Fatal Embolism
Miliband Sets Climate and International Law at Centre of UK Diplomacy
Pentagon Discloses Nearly 100 US Troop Injuries During Renewed Iran Fighting
Trump Readies New Tariffs as Temporary Global Levy Nears Expiry
High Prices Push Coffee Drinkers Toward Whole Beans and Home Brewing
Trump Draws Boos and Podium Scrutiny at Spain’s World Cup Triumph
Spain Defeats Argentina in Extra Time to Win Second World Cup
Turkey Explores S-400 Transfer to UAE in Bid to Rejoin F-35 Program
US Retaliates Against Iran After Two American Troops Killed in Jordan
Proposed U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Pact Could Permit Limited Uranium Enrichment Under International Safeguards
Why Kentucky Fried Chicken Became KFC—and Why the False Explanations Persist
Iran Claims It Destroyed Bahrain’s Main Artificial Intelligence Center in Missile and Drone Strike
Ukrainian Drones Strike Wildberries Warehouses Deep Inside Russia
Reported CIA Mission Helped Clear the UAE’s Path to Advanced US AI Chips
Artificial Intelligence Capital Fuels Markets While Governments and Regulators Face Mounting Strategic Tests
China’s Moonshot’s Kimi K3 Narrows the Gap With Anthropic Through Scale, Openness and Lower Cost
Gold and Cash Seizure Puts Indonesia’s Senior Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Under Investigation
The Ledger Will Not Trust on Faith
Passenger Bound for Germany Refused to Sit Beside a Woman on a Plane — Then Slapped a Flight Attendant
Ukraine’s Leadership Rift Spills Into the Streets as Protesters Target Army Chief
The Ten World Cup Finals That Defined Football History
Smartphones Are Getting More Expensive, Sales Are Collapsing, and Even Apple Admits: "Prices Will Rise"
×