#COVID19: Spain To Make Wearing Face Masks Mandatory Until The Virus Is Defeated

People in Spain will be forced to wear face masks where social distancing is impossible until a cure or vaccine for coronavirus is found.

It means Brits and other tourists hoping to visit Spain on holiday will also have to wear face masks as part of the drastic measure. 

Health Minister Salvador Illa revealed on Tuesday that public face mask wearing will remain in place even after the country’s state of emergency ends on 21 June. 

Illa said wearing the masks will be compulsory until the virus is ‘permanently’ defeated, which will be ‘when we have an effective treatment or vaccine against it’. 

Those who flout the rules will be fined up to €100, he said.  

Mask-wearing was initially imposed as a requirement for only those using public transport in early May but the measure was later rolled out. 

Compulsory mask-wearing for everyone aged six and over, where it is not possible to maintain two metres apart in public, has been in place since 21 May. 

The new regulation will, however, slightly reduce the distance to 1.5 metres.

While vaccines normally take years to develop, most experts think one will become available by around mid-2021.  

Spain has had more than 242,000 known cases of coronavirus, and the killer bug has caused more than 27,000 deaths.