At a press conference today Saturday afternoon it announced that the tourist sector should start to prepare for the upcoming summer season Pedro Sanchez said "The hardest part is over," Covid-19 epidemic, which has left more than 28,000 dead in Spain according to official figures. "We are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Now the epicenter has moved to other parts of the planet, as is happening, for example, on the American continent. The response of the Spanish people has been formidable. Everyone has fulfilled their mission and they came together to deal with the epidemic."
On Monday, the entire country will be in Phase 1 or Phase 2 of the government's deescalation plan, with the last parts of the country.
"We are in the deescalation process, but we are still in a health emergency," he continued. "We must always have in mind what the health authorities are telling us. We must act prudently and responsibly. Until a vaccine arrives everything will depend on each one of us. A new outbreak is far from impossible. There is a high percentage that there will be a new outbreak. Prudence must be the key to how we proceed."
The prime minister said that he understood people's desire to move forward as fast as possible, but he warned that "there is still around a month" of the deescalation process to go. "It will still be necessary to maintain some limitations on mobility, as will as limits to meetings. These will be for very few weeks, but this will still be necessary," he said.
Spain's coronavirus lockdown measures have been among the strictest in the world, and many citizens are still severely limited as to when and how they can leave their homes under the current phases in place.
"Spain has done what it had to do, and new horizons are now opening up for all of us," he continued. "The time has come for many everyday activities to return. From June 8, La Liga will return," he said, in reference to the hugely popular top-flight soccer league.
He also stressed that many museums and theaters would be reopening too under the next phases of deescalation. "We must begin to restart economic activity," he continued. "Some of these sectors are hostelry and tourism, which have a fundamental role in the creation of employment. The moment has arrived. I'm announcing to you that there will be a tourist season this year and I invite all tourist establishments to start to prepare from today to restart their activity in a few days from now."
The prime minister encouraged Spaniards to start planning their vacations, and said that from July, foreign tourism would return to Spain "in safe conditions." He pointed to the fact that Spain usually receives more than 80 million foreign visitors a year. "From now, foreign tourists can plan their vacations in our country," he added.
"We will guarantee that tourists will not run any risks and they will not bring us any risks," he continued. "There will be no opposing forces between health and business. Spanish tourism will now have two hallmarks: environmental sustainability and health safety," he stated.
Sánchez went on to explain that an official ceremony, presided by Spain's King Felipe VI, would also take place to remember the victims of the coronavirus in Spain. "The dead deserve our remembrance," he said. "But also our mutual understanding. We have to live together in the same country that they built."
