Here at Barcelona SAE, our #1 priority is to keep our students safe. We’re very excited to welcome students back to Barcelona beginning in Spring 2021 and will now start providing regular health & safety updates for future students, their parents, and sending institutions.
Here is the latest update regarding life in Barcelona and Spain in relation to COVID-19:
DAILY LIFE
Just today, the Ministry of Health for Catalonia held a press conference to announce that numbers are going up slightly and they will implement stricter restrictions for the next 10 days so that they hopefully do not have to put in stricter measures again in the near future.
They compared the situation in Catalonia to other countries in Europe and things here look better and less complex than, for example, Germany where they have a nationwide lockdown, or in France where almost everything is closed except for schools.
Schools are reopening as planned here on January 11th for in person instruction.
The restrictions affecting Catalonia from January 7th -17th include:
- People cannot leave their municipality during the week except with a valid reason
- Big malls will be closed completely and stores that are 4000 square feet or smaller can be open during the week, but must close on the weekend if they aren’t essential (food, pharmacies etc..)
- Gyms are closed but people can do exercise outdoors
- The nighttime curfew from 10pm – 6am still applies
- Restaurants and cafés are open for a couple hours in the morning for breakfast and a few hours at lunch, but outside of that they are only open for food to go
THE NUMBERS
In Catalonia, the reproduction rate has dropped down to 1.27 from 1.4 in my last update on December 22nd and they have registered 1,319 new cases in the last 24 hours.
The numbers are going up slowly, but not like it was in October.
VACCINATION UPDATE
Catalonia vaccinated 8,000 + people in the first week and they plan to accelerate the rhythm now to 30,000 doses per week thanks to 250 new special freezers they’ve acquired and since they will start vaccinating on festivals and Sundays. The plan is to approve the Moderna vaccine as well on January 6th which will allow them to deliver 60,000 doses per week.
OF INTEREST
January 6th is a big holiday in Spain called “Reyes” or Kings’ day which is when most Spanish children receive their holiday gifts from the 3 kings (instead of Santa). Usually on January 5th in the evening there are huge parades throughout Spain where the kings come in on floats with music, dancers, lights, candy etc.. but obviously this year it is not happening and they create a parade just to be watched on TV so the kids can be sure to still receive their gifts on the morning of the 6th.
Rich Kurtzman | Founder & CEO
