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Spain Begins Slow and Nervous Return to 'Normal' Life

Graham Keeley

   MADRID - More than half of Spain returned to a semblance of normality
   Monday, as the lockdown eased in most of the country except in Madrid,
   Barcelona and other regions where infection levels remain too high.

   Grandparents hugged grandchildren they not seen for weeks under new
   rules in which up to 10 people can meet, and people can move around
   their province but not to other parts of Spain.

   Cafe terraces -- so much a part of Spanish daily life -- opened again
   but at'¯reduced capacity. Museums, gyms and hotels opened their doors
   for the first time in nearly two months under strict hygiene
   regulations.

   Under what the Spanish government called Phase 1 of the relaxation of
   the state of emergency, regions that qualified must have lower
   infection rates and a fixed number of intensive care beds.

   Spain's health ministry said the number of fatalities dropped to 123 on
   Monday from 143 on Sunday, a seven-week low in one of the world's worst
   affected countries where 26,744 people have lost their lives to the
   coronavirus.

   With the world's second-highest infection rate, Spain had reported
   227,436 confirmed cases by Monday.

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