Canary Islands Government approves a decree with measures against Covid-19

The Government of the Canary Islands has approved the Health Alert Decree-Law that reinforces legal measures against COVID-19, a document that consolidates in a single legal text the more than 20 health measures approved by the Executive in the last 18 months.

The president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, emphasizes that the regulation is as permissive as possible, but that restrictions should be further relaxed or adapted depending on the evolution of the pandemic.

The decree-law will enter into force after its publication in the BOC and will be sent to the Parliament of the Canary Islands for validation.

The current pandemic situation in the Canary Islands and, especially, the high vaccination rate achieved, allows the regional Executive to make the containment measures against COVID-19 more flexible. 

The Covid certificate could be requested in certain circumstances

The new decree-law that has 28 articles, could enable the regional health authority with the power to decide in which activities and public or private work areas it is necessary to demonstrate that the vaccination scheme was completed or that a valid negative test result has to be presented.  The Government, therefore, will be determining in which work areas and activities a Covid-19 certificate can be requested.

At present, this requirement is already in place in the case of passengers coming from the rest of Spain and in the case of tourists staying in regulated accommodation in the Canary Islands.

Torres remarked that the new decree does not establish closures of any economic activity, but schedules can be imposed according to the alert levels on each island.

Closing hours and capacity according to the levels on each island

• At level 1 - a 100% capacity will be allowed outside the restaurants and 75% inside, while the maximum number of people in a group is set at 10 (as ratified by the TSJC)  and the closing time is set at 3.00 am.
• At level 2 - 75% outdoor capacity will be allowed and 50% capacity for the interior of establishments, while the maximum number of people in a group is set at 6 (as ratified by the TSJC)  and the closing time is set at 2. 00 am. 
• At level 3 - 75% outdoor capacity will be allowed and 40% of capacity for the interior of establishments, while the maximum number of people in a group is set at 4 (as ratified by the TSJC)  and the closing time is set at 1. 00 am. 
• At level 4 - 75% outdoor capacity will be allowed and 25% capacity for the interior of establishments, while the maximum number of people in a group is set at 4 (as ratified by the TSJC)  and the closing time is set at 1. 00 am. 

The entry into force of the Decree-law will occur on the same day of its publication in the BOC (The Official Gazette of the Canary Islands) and will have to be validated by the Plenary of the Parliament of the Canary Islands within a maximum period of thirty days, for its processing as a bill.