Spain scraps outdoor mask-wearing rule, but many stay covered up

Madrid: Spaniards were allowed to ditch their face masks for a walk in the park or a trip to the beach on Saturday for the first time in more than a year, but some people were in no rush to dispense with their facial protection against COVID-19.

"I`m surprised because I expected to see many people without masks, but most are still wearing them," said Manuel Mas, 40, a singer, in the centre of the capital, Madrid.

While masks do not have to be worn outdoors under the country`s newly relaxed rules, people still have to use them indoors or in crowded outdoor spaces where social distancing is impossible.

Andrea Sosa, 20, a waitress from Madrid, said she would continue to keep her face covered because she had not been vaccinated yet.

"For me it`s important to keep wearing the mask," she said as she waited to meet a friend in the city`s busy Puerta del Sol square.

Spain`s nationwide infection rate as measured over the preceding 14 days was 95 cases per 100,000 of population, down from about 150 cases a month ago, according to Spanish Health Ministry figures on Friday.

Half of the nation`s 47 million population have received at least one vaccine dose, the ministry said earlier this week.

Some 3,782,463 coronavirus cases have been confirmed while 80,779 people have died from COVID-19, according to official data.