The region of Madrid and the metropolitan area of Barcelona will remain in the first stage of the scale-down of measures to control the spread of the COVID-19 for at least another week, the Spanish Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Services said.
Provincial capitals in the region of Castilla-Leon also remain in the first stage, while other regions, such as the provinces of Granada and Malaga (southern Spain), Albacete, Ciudad Real and Toledo (central Spain) and parts of the Autonomous Community of Valencia (eastern Spain) all progress to the second stage (Phase 1), reports Xinhua news agency.
Meanwhile, the islands of Formentera (Balearic Islands) and La Gomera, La Graciosa and El Hierro in the Canary Islands will be able to move into the third stage of the scale-down (Phase 2), in which bars and restaurants, cinemas, theaters and commercial centres can open at 30 per cent capacity.
Addressing the media on Friday, Fernando Simon, director of the Coordination Center for Health Alerts and Emergencies, explained that Madrid and Barcelona were cities "with very high movement of people" and "nucleuses of communication," with "massive use" of public transport".
He said that in Madrid, the "evolution of the pandemic is very favourable... But even then, it is still the region with the most daily registered cases, together with Catalonia".
The Madrid region must remain for another week in Phase 0, out of prudence."
The government has made some small concessions to Madrid and Barcelona, where shops will be open without prior appointment, but bars will not be allowed to open their terraces.
Spain has so far reported 230,183 COVID-19 cases, with 27,459 deaths.
( With inputs from IANS )