It will not always be mandatory on the beach, but it will be mandatory in the mountains if you go in a group

The Ministry of Health and the autonomous communities have agreed to relax the use of masks in public places. After the controversy that arose last week when the mandatory use of the mask was published at all times and places, regardless of whether it was alone in the middle of the mountain or on a remote beach, the administrations have rectified this Wednesday and softened (a little) these obligations.

The regulations in force so far only exempt the use of masks in public spaces in the event that an individual sport is carried out or when, due to the very nature of the activity to be carried out, “such use is incompatible”. This formula of incompatibility, interpretable, is what allows communities to “adapt (…) the mandatory use of the mask to various circumstances and activities to which the state regulation and the corresponding regional regulations or resolutions must be applied. “.

In this regard, the text that includes the change in the regulations calls for consistency and unity of action from the administrations. It would be “very convenient” for “administrations (…) to agree on common criteria for the interpretation and application of the norm (…) since a multiplicity of interpretations could generate some confusion among citizens and make it difficult to apply the norm “, he maintains.

The agreement signed by the central and regional executives is what it does is expand the cases in which it is considered that the use is incompatible to allow the performance of certain specific activities. The biggest news, related to the aspects that had raised the most controversy with the previous regulations, are that the mask will no longer be mandatory at all times on the beach and also in the mountains if you are alone.

From now on it will not be necessary to put on the mask on the beach if the safety distance of one and a half meters can be respected and as long as the person “remains at a certain point”. Strolling playfully along the shore or going to the beach bar, for example, will require a mask. Nor will it be necessary to take it to the seashore itself, as was the case. In addition, someone has seen fit to leave black on white, which is also exempt from its use during baths.

Other times when It will not be compulsory to practice sports in the aquatic environment and rest periods before or after bathing (…) in its surroundings; the activities of “first aid or rescue when they require access to the aquatic environment”; and in the periods “strictly necessary” to eat or drink, all this always in public places.

As for the mountains and other similar exercises, they are equated to individual sports (that is, exempt from the use of a mask), “activities that involve physical effort of a non-sports nature, outdoors and individually” (the text of the leaked draft added read “intense physical exertion”). With all the ambiguity that this phrase conveys, it is understood that to walk through the mountains alone it will not be necessary to wear a mask. In any case, it will be necessary to maintain a safety distance of 1.5 meters.

The approved text is also in charge of clarifying that “are considered activities compatible with the use of a mask” walks through natural environments, the use of changing rooms in public or community pools “except for showers” and the time spent in hospitality establishments without eating or drinking.

These are, in full, the exceptions (and obligations) approved by the Interterritorial Health Council regarding the mandatory use of masks, according to the draft version (it may undergo some minor modification):

1. They are equated to the exercise of individual sport [exento del uso de mascarilla] activities that involve intense physical effort, of a non-sporting nature, outdoors and individually, maintaining, in any case, the minimum distance of 1.5 meters with other people who are not living together.

2. The following activities are understood to be incompatible with the use of the mask:

– In the case of rest on the beaches, rivers or in similar environments, the aforementioned period may only be extended to that in which the person remains at a certain point and respecting the minimum distance of 1.5 meters with other people who are not living together. or assimilated.

-In the case of covered swimming pools or in the event that this rest is carried out on board boats, the period of rest will only be understood as the strictly necessary between intervals of activity.

3. The following activities are considered compatible with the use of a mask: