'Phase 1' regions allowed to scrap 'exercise' time slots if they wish

It was Extremadura's regional president, Guillermo Fernández Vara, who initially called for each of Spain's 17 autonomous communities – 19 counting the north African territories of Ceuta and Melilla – to be allowed to decide for themselves whether to continue setting limits on non-essential outings.

At present, children under 14 can go for walks with one adult from the same household – up to three children per adult – between noon and 19.00; those aged 70 and over can do so between 10.00 and noon or from 19.00 to 20.00, and everyone aged 14 to 69 inclusive can go out for walks, runs, bike rides or other exercise within a kilometre radius for the first of these and within the same town for the rest between 06.00 and 10.00 and 20.00 and 23.00.

Vara is among those who believe there is 'little sense' in restricting pleasure outings and exercise to set times when, for example, supermarkets largely shut at 20.00, meaning children, the over-70s and older teens and younger adults will all be out of the house anyway, and bars in 'Phase 1' zones are open subject to being a maximum of 50% full, whilst shops of under 400 metres are now letting in customers in limited numbers without appointment.

Given that most small shops, pharmacies, tobacconists', supermarkets, hairdressers' and bars – those allowed to open during 'Phase 1' – tend to close at around 20.00, this would mean the bulk of the adult population could either only visit them between 09.00 and 10.00 in the morning, which is impractical and has not been imposed, or they would coincide with either the mass child exodus or the pensioners' walks, which the time slots are aimed at avoiding.

In most cases, therefore, these time limits are not compatible with 'Phase 1', and could turn out to be largely unworkable or even pointless.

They do not apply to villages with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants.

Illa says he is 'not in favour' of scrapping the age-related timetables, but has agreed that different regions can make their own decisions.

As yet, none has done so officially, so the public is advised to stick to these slots if they are going out for anything other than visiting business premises which are now trading, or other exceptions such as caring for the elderly or disabled, or for animals.

About 51% of the population is now enjoying the extra freedom 'Phase 1' offers, although the metropolitan areas of Spain's largest three cities remain on 'Phase 0', along with Granada, the Costa del Sol, nearly all of Catalunya, and significant portions of Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, and the Comunidad Valenciana.

The latter is something of a hybrid, since 14 of its 24 health department catchment areas are on 'Phase 0' and the rest on 'Phase 1', whilst in the rest of the country, this is based upon provinces.

To find out if your area is 'Phase 0' or 'Phase 1', a complete list is shown here, and you can find out what 'Phase 0' and 'Phase 1' mean for members of the public and traders.

Some regions have appealed against the decision to keep them on 'Phase 0', saying they have the same or fewer numbers of Covid-19 cases and fatalities per head as others now on 'Phase 1'.

But this is not the only criteria – to move onto 'Phase 1', provinces or health departments have to demonstrate they have a minimum number of beds, medical staff and intensive care places in relation to the population, in order to be able to cope in the hypothetical event of a second outbreak.

This explains why towns in some catchment areas with few, or no, cases are still on 'Phase 0' – their nearest hospitals cannot guarantee the minimum resources stipulated to ensure everyone with Covid-19 could be effectively treated without putting others, including healthcare staff, at risk.