ARCHIVED - Andalusian government maintains provincial border closures until April 8

The changes come into force at midnight on Friday (19 March) and will remain in place for three weeks, until 8 April.

Following a meeting of the committee of experts in charge of determining Covid-related restrictions in Andalusia on Wednesday evening, the president of the regional government has announced the following measures:

* Provincial borders will remain closed, meaning no movement between the region’s eight provinces (Almería, Granada, Málaga, Cádiz, Huelva, Sevilla, Córdoba and Jaén) is permitted without just cause.

* Andalusia’s external regional borders will remain closed, meaning nobody may leave or enter the region from other parts of Spain without just cause.

* The start of the night-time curfew has been put back an hour, and it will now be in place from 11 pm to 6 am.

* Shops, bars and restaurants will be allowed to stay open until 10.30 pm, except in municipalities with accumulated incidents rates of more than 1,000 per 100,000 residents.

* Gatherings inside hostelry establishments are limited to a maximum of 4 people, although up to 6 may meet outside.

The Andalucían government recognises that the number of new cases has descended significantly in the last month, but is concerned about the increased spread of the new, and more contagious variants, particularly the "Kent variant" which now accounts for up to 60 per cent of all cases in the region and is determined to limit the possibility of a fourth wave in the region, after being particularly badly hit during the third.

⏰ #Andalucía amplía el horario del comercio y la hostelería y retrasa el toque de queda a las 23 horas.
🛑 Se mantiene el cierre entre provincias hasta después de Semana Santa ante la tendencia al alza de los contagios.
➡ https://t.co/91wxfYwYOZ ✅ pic.twitter.com/IZKqBQpb3U

— Junta de Andalucía (@AndaluciaJunta) March 17, 2021

The measures, which have come as a bit of a disappointment to many residents of the region who were hoping for a little extra freedom over the holidays and the chance to visit relatives they haven’t seen for months, or head for the beach, will be in force from midnight on Friday (19 March) until 8 April.