The Spanish government has announced a multi-stage rollback of lockdown restrictions which has promising implications for the entertainment industry.
As part of the relaxation of their overall nationwide lockdown, Spain is set to begin allowing cultural events to take place, including limited-capacity events at open-air and indoor venues. This will happen in multiple phases, the first of which will see indoor venues allowed to open for 30 people, and open-air events that follow social distancing guidelines permitted for 200 people. This phase will last from May 11th until May 25th, when a second phase will increase these capacity numbers, until the final stage of the lockdown relaxation occurs on June 8th, which allows indoor venues to open with an 80-person limit and seated open-air events permitted to hold 800 people.
Though the easing of the lockdown is a positive step for the entertainment industry, some are claiming that the numbers stipulated by the new rules simply aren’t enough to bring back economic sustainability, and many indoor venues will not be able to operate at such low capacities. Spain has only recently allowed citizens to leave their homes to exercise, rolling back strictly enforced lockdown rules that have been in place since March. These new guidelines form part of their overall lockdown relaxation that will also include the gradual reopening of cinemas, theatres, restaurants and bars.
“We think that all these restrictions are not useful for most of the music venues. The authorities are not taking into account the characteristics of our industry and they are proposing illogical and impossible measures to fulfil.”
Barcelona club Razzmatazz, speaking to Mixmag