Measures to combat Covid-19 in Barcelona
The Catalan government is the authority responsible for adopting, abolishing, amending and implementing measures to prevent infections. Under the new Catalan Territorial Civil Protection Plan (PROCICAT), at the metropolitan level, municipalities in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area are working together with the Catalan government to contain outbreaks. In this context, Barcelona City Council has been playing a key role in the management of the healthcare and economic crisis.
The Spanish government declared state of emergency (Spanish) so that Spain’s regional governments can adopt the necessary measures for containing the pandemic.
In this context, the Government of Catalonia has initiated a plan for resuming activities, agreed with the various sectors.We are now in tier 1, with new restrictive measures which came into force from 7 January.
The Catalan government is the authority responsible for adopting, abolishing, amending and implementing measures to prevent infections. Under the new Catalan Territorial Civil Protection Plan (PROCICAT), at the metropolitan level, municipalities in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area are working together with the Catalan government to contain outbreaks.
Barcelona City Council has been playing a key role in the management of the healthcare and economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and has been working hard with its finances and resources to offer city residents all the services, aid and protective measures they need in these truly exceptional times.
CloseRestrictions and recommendations, in force until April, 19
In force until April, 19
-
Social gatherings with a maximum of 6 people (2 bubble groups)
-
You may not be in the street between 10 pm and 6 am
-
County lockdown all week
-
Bars and restaurants open from 7.30 am to 5.00 pm
-
Non-essential shops can open from Monday to Saturday
Restrictions on people entering and leaving
- Neither entering nor leaving Catalonia is permitted, except for justifiable reasons.
- The county lockdown remains in force: entering or leaving the county is not allowed on any day of the week without a valid reason. The Barcelonès County area covers Barcelona, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Santa Coloma de Gramanet, Badalona, and Sant Adrià del Besòs.
- Anyone who has to travel for reasons of force majeure must take along a self-responsible travel certificate. You can download here the certificate on line or for printing [PDF].
- Travel for work purposes is only permitted where teleworking is not possible.
The following are the another exceptions to the entry and exit restrictions:
- To attend social and healthcare facilities.
- To fulfil professional obligations where remote work or teleworking is not possible.
- To attend school or university, including nursery.
- To go back to your usual home.
- To look after elderly people, children or people dependent on others or with a disability.
- Travel for collect and look after minors where their parents are separated, divorced or living in separate residences.
- Travel to banks for transactions that cannot be carried out online.
- Judicial proceedings that cannot be carried out online.
- Official-document renewals that cannot be carried out online.
- To take official tests or exams that cannot be postponed.
- Exercising the right to demonstrate and to political participation.
- To attend official and professional sports competitions.
- Mobility for educational activities and camps.
- For other reasons of force majeure.
Vehicles are allowed to be driven for authorised travel and goods transport.
Last updated 09/04/2021
Close
Mobility restrictions
- Going out into the street is not permitted between 10 pm and 6 am, except for justifiable reasons.
- Mobility is allowed for people returning home from educational centres and permitted cultural activities and to collect food from restaurants and bars.
- Anyone who has to travel for reasons of force majeure must take along a personal-responsibility certificate. You can download here the certificate on line or for printing [PDF].
- It is recommended that journeys outside the home should be limited as much as possible, along with the use of public thoroughfares.
The following are exceptions to night mobility restrictions:
- Travel for emergency healthcare assistance and purchasing pharmaceutical products, as well as for emergency veterinary assistance.
- Travel to and from work or for work-related reasons only where remote work or teleworking is not possible (requiring a certificate from the company).
- Travel for urgent care for elderly people, minors or people dependent on others or with a disability and the duly justified journeys of these people.
- Travel for collect and look after minors where their parents are separated, divorced or living in separate residences.
- Travel by professionals and volunteers for essential, healthcare and social services (Accreditation required).
- Emergency action before the judicial bodies.
- Travel back to their usual place of residence after taking part in one of these permitted activities.
- Travel to walk a dog between 4 am and 6 am.
- Other force majeure reasons.
Vehicles are allowed to be driven for authorised travel and goods transport.
Last updated 25/01/2021
Close
Limiting social gatherings
- Meetings and social and family gatherings, indoors or outdoors, are limited to a maximum of six people from two support bubbles, with the exception of members of the same household.
- People are advised to reduce social and family gatherings in enclosed spaces as much as possible, including in homes. The recommendation is for such gatherings to be limited to dependent or vulnerable people, always within the same bubble group.
- When these meetings are held in public spaces, the consumption of food or beverages is not permitted.
- Smoking is banned on public streets and squares, whenever the two-metre social distance between individuals cannot be maintained
- People with Covid-19 symptoms, or who have to self-isolate or be in quarantine for any reason, may not take part, under any circumstances.
- You are recommended to limit contact to the members of your household, which may include close family, carers and people who provide support to avoid isolation and loneliness.
- In social gatherings, you must continue to maintain essential measures, including social-distancing, hygiene and protection, by means of wearing a face mask.
Last updated 09/04/2021
Close
Companies and teleworking
- Worker mobility needs to be limited as much as possible, remote work has to be enabled and flexible working hours encouraged.
- When this is not possible, measures must be adopted that ensure that the minimum interpersonal safety distance can be maintained, or offer protective equipment that is appropriate to the level of risk. Furthermore, cleaning and disinfection measures adapted to each centre must be adopted.
- The use of a face mask is obligatory in a workplace environment whenever the work space is for public use.
- Face-to-face conferences, conventions and trade fairs have been suspended.
Last updated 11/01/2021
Close
Bars and restaurants
- Bars and restaurants can open without interruption from 7.30 am to 5 pm.
- Indoor capacity is limited to 30% (adequate ventilation is required), and 100% on outdoor terraces.
- There needs to be a safety distance of two metres between tables and a maximum of four people per table (except for bubble groups).
- Food and drink must always be consumed at tables.
- Diners musts wear a mask throughout and only take it off when eating or drinking.
- Take away meals may be served between 6 am and 10 pm on the premises, and until 11 pm in the case of home delivery.
- Bars and restaurants in shopping centres must remain closed.
- Hotel restaurants can also serve evening meals until 10 pm, only for guests staying at the hotel.
Last updated 08/03/2021
Commerce and consumption
- Retail, commercial establishments of up to 800 m2 and shopping centres can open every day of the week, including for non-essential products, at 30% capacity.
- Opening hours are from 6 am to 9 pm (except for essential activities).
- Shops of more than 800 m2 can open provided the sales area is no more than 800 m2 in size, and at 30% capacity.
- Restaurants in shopping centres will remain closed.
- Beauty centres and hairdressers may open, with services by appointment, along with activities that involve close personal contact.
- Bookshops can open Mondays to Saturdays, regardless of their surface area.
- Establishments selling food, drinks, hygiene and other essential products, pharmacies, orthopaedic shops, opticians, veterinary clinics, car dealerships, telecommunications, hairdressing and beauty services and garden centres may open whatever their size, under the health, prevention and physical distancing measures established in the corresponding sectoral plan.
- Priority must be given to orders placed by phone or online, or products given to customers at the establishment’s entrance.
- Travelling markets and market fairs must limit their customer capacity to 30%. Are allowed to open on weekends too.
Last updated 15/03/2021
Close
Public transport
- Public transport will maintain 100% of their services.
Last updated 02/11/2020
Cultural activities and facilities
- Cinemas, theatres, auditoriums, circus and concert halls are open with 50% capacity, up to a maximum of 500 people.
- Audience capacities may extend to a maximum of 1,000 people per performance, seated, by prior booking and without exceeding the 50% limit, if extra ventilation conditions are complied with and crowd control is established.
- Limits on programmed activities are lifted.
- Museums, libraries, archives, exhibition rooms, art galleries and visual arts and creation centres are open, with a maximum capacity of 50%. Cultural activities will resume at up to 50% capacity.
- Closing at 10 pm; audience members are allowed to return home after 10 pm.
Last updated 15/03/2021
Sports activities
- Indoor gyms and sports facilities are reopening at 30% capacity. Group activities will no longer be limited to six people, wearing masks. If ventilation is insufficient, the limit of six people with face masks still applies.
- Changing rooms will re-open, with proper ventilation and priority for those using swimming pools.
- The capacity of indoor swimming pools will be increased to 50%.
- Open-air sports facilities and outdoor swimming pools remain open with 50% of their user capacity.
- Access control must be ensured, and the use of unsupervised sports facilities is prohibited, including open-air public sports courts and pitches.
- Sports facilities can open to the public from 6 am to 9 pm.
- Outdoor sports activities allowed with a maximum of 6 people.
- These limitations do not affect sports technification and high-performance sports centres or professional sports installations and facilities.
- Competitions: international, professional and state categories, as well as the competitions for qualifying for them, and regular federation leagues for any age.
- Competitions may be held with an audience, always with pre-allocated seats. The maximum capacity will be 50% outdoors and 30% indoors.
- National and international professional football and basketball competitions will continue to be held without an audience.
Last updated 15/03/2021
Close
Civic facilities
- No face-to-face civic or community activities are allowed in civic facilities. except for exhibitions with 33% of capacity.
- Exempted from this are programmes and activities involving social-educational intervention and free-time education in children’s and adolescents’ leisure and youth-support programmes, as well as social and personal intervention activities (soup kitchens, hairdressing and podiatry).
- Outdoor activities (physical and memory training activities) for over-60s are allowed in groups of up to six people.
- Activities are suspended for children's centres, play libraries, study rooms, youth organisations and youth centres, as well as facilities for the elderly.
Last updated 08/03/2021
Recreational activities
- Closure of amusement parks, fairs and establishments offering private children's leisure activities indoors.
- Children’s playgrounds in pubic parks at 50% capacity (they can be used until 8 pm).
- The holding of big annual festivals is suspended.
- Popular and traditional culture activities can resume, providing they are static, in a space with a perimeter or indoors, with spectators to be seated and the same limits on capacity as culture activities.
- Reopening of gambling halls, casinos and bingo halls at 30% capacity and a maximum of one hundred people provided that the minimum ventilation is ensured.
- If there are reforced ventilation systems, the number of people can be increased to 250 (provided the 30% capacity limit is not exceeded). Bar and restaurant services are not allowed to open.
Last updated 15/03/2021
Education
- 100% attendance for infant schools, primary schools and compulsory secondary education is maintained.
- For baccalaureate courses, vocational training and specially regulated teaching (music, dance, visual arts and design, performing arts, sports instruction and higher artistic education), adult education centres and official language schools, in-person attendance has been reduced.
- At universities, gradual recovery of face-to-face activities up to a maximum of 30% of each institution’s students. Each university will decide to which courses and subjects to apply this and how it wishes to do so. Placements and assessments can continue on-site.
- Allowed extracurricular, leisure and sports activities aimed at children, primary school, compulsory secondary education, baccalaureate and vocational training students in groups of no more than six people (this limit does not apply to school bubbles).
- Semi-face-to-face activity in music and dance schools authorised by the Department of Education.
- Camps and travel to another county for educational leisure activities is also permitted. An overnight stay is permitted if the classroom bubbles are maintained.
- Food and drink may be consumed outdoors in school outings and socio-educational and educational leisure activities.
- School transport can continue, in accordance with the sectoral plans approved by PROCICAT and applying the corresponding prevention and protection measures.
- Child-minding activities will continue, providing they are to help families achieve an adequate work-life balance.
Last updated 08/03/2021
Close
Night-time leisure
- Nightclubs, dance halls and entertainment venues, as well all venues with a dance floor that play music, will continue to be closed to the public.
Last updated 02/11/2020
Religious and civil ceremonies
- Places are limited to 30% of capacity, with a maximum of 500 individuals.
- The capacity may extend to 1,000 individuals, without exceeding the 30% limits, provided extra ventilation, air-quality and crowd-control measures are complied with.
Last updated 14/12/2020
Penalties
In order to tackle the health crisis caused by Covid-19, the project for Decree Law 30/2020Decree Law 30/2020 (Catalan), of 4 August, approved by the government, establishes three types of infringements for non-compliance with health and prevention measures, along with their respective penalties.
This decree also regulates the violations of the new restrictive measures on night-time mobility and closing times for commercial, cultural and sports activities.
- Minor infringements
Infringements will be classified as minor when they represent an infection risk to a maximum of 15 people.
Non-compliance with the use of face masks or their inadequate use will be considered a minor infringement, with a fine of €100.
The shared consumption of alcoholic drinks in public streets and other places open to the public, without the corresponding operating licence, will be considered a minor infringement, with a fine of between €500 and €3,000.
Minor infringements may lead to fines of up to €3,000.
- Serious infringements
Infringements will be classified as serious when they represent an infection risk to between 15 and 150 people.
Non-compliance with occupancy limits in enclosed or outdoor spaces, non-compliance with opening hours and closing times for different types of establishments and activities, and non-compliance with prevention and hygiene measures adopted by the authorities will be considered as serious infringements.
Holding events or activities which have been expressly prohibited will also be considered a serious infringement.
Fines for serious infringements will range from €3,001 to €60,000.
- Very serious infringements
Infringements will be classified as very serious when they represent an infection risk to more than 150 people.
Infringements considered to be very serious include reiterated non-compliance with obligatory self-isolation, agreed by the competent authorities, by people who have tested positive for Covid-19, and reiterated non-compliance with the protocols, plans and instructions received from the competent authorities.
Very serious infringements may lead to fines of between €60,001 and €600,000.
Last updated 02/11/2020
Close
What should i do if i have symptoms of COVID-19
If you’ve got Covid-19 symptoms or you’ve been in contact with somebody diagnosed with it, get in touch with your primary healthcare centre or call 061 (freephone number).. Stay at home and isolate yourself from all other householders.
And remember that the main measures for slowing down the transmission of the virus are: maintain a safety distance, wash your hands, use a facemask, reduce social contact as far as possible and avoid crowds.
If you have a condition which puts you at risk, take extra care with your precautions.
Here you will also find information on vaccines against Covid-19 and the vaccination campaign.
