The Spanish government have announced that Nerja (as part of the province of Malaga) will be moving to Phase 1 of their de-escelation plan on Monday the 18th of May 2020.

The principal change that this will allow is that bars and restaurants can open their outside areas, with a limit of up to 50% of their normal capacity, provided that the minimum distance of 2 metres is maintained between tables. People will be able to go to any bar or restaurant that is open without any kind of time restriction, however the current timetable for walking and exercise will remain in force (see below). In other words, people will still be restricted as to when they can go for a walk, unless they are going for a walk to a bar, restaurant, shop, tobacconist, chemists, hairdresser, doctors and so on at any time that that establishment is open.

Friends and family members will be able to meet at bars, restaurants, or their own homes, again without any limitation of time. Groups of up to 10 people can meet, furthermore there will be no limitation of the size of the group if they are from the same household. It is not clear if people can meet at parks or beaches for example.

Small shops and businesses can open, with limits on the number of people that can enter the premises with a minimum social distance of 2m.

Residents can travel by car to any other part of the province where they live, more than one person can travel in a car, provided they live in the same household. You can not travel to another part of the province to take exercise, people are still limited to their own municipality or 1km from their house when taking exercise in the time periods as follows:-

Adults (i.e. 14 to 70) walking with one other person from the same household and solo sports such as cycling and jogging from 6am to 10am and 8pm to 11pm.

Dependent adults with their carer (and over 70s) 10am to 12 noon and 7pm to 8pm

People will be limited to a radius of one kilometre from their homes when walking and within their own municipality when running or cycling – limited to once a day. Social distancing must be maintained at all times. People with symptoms of Coronavirus or otherwise affected by the disease are not permitted to go out.

Accompanied children (i.e. under 14) will be allowed out from12 noon to 7pm – maximum one hour and limited to within 1km of their home.

Please note that this information is provided as guidance only, based on the current information as released by the government and state news media and it can change at any time. Please ensure that you are aware of the current rules as they apply to you. The full details of the new regulations are contained in a 29 page official document, with many other restrictions and/or exceptions which can be downloaded as a PDF here:

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