Spain eases some coronavirus restrictions

As of Friday, customers eating inside bars and restaurants and going to fitness centres in the city of Barcelona are no longer required to present COVID-19 passports upon entrance.

Another restriction no longer in place is the limit of up to ten people during private gatherings.

But nightlife businesses will remain closed until further notice, regional authorities said Tuesday.

With one of Europe's highest vaccination rates, the Spanish government is laying the groundwork to treat the next infection surge not as an emergency but an illness that is here to stay.

The idea is to move from crisis mode to control mode, approaching the virus in much the same way countries deal with flu or measles.

That means accepting that infections will occur and providing extra care for at-risk people and patients with complications.

A spike in new daily infections in December due to the omicron variant forced regional Catalan authorities to reinstate a night curfew during the Christmas holidays.

The curfew was extended a further two weeks but lifted January 21.

Other restrictions remain in place, such as wearing face masks outdoors.

Officials credited the draconian measures with preventing a full collapse of the health system.