Traveling within whole of Catalonia allowed three months later
Barcelona and Lleida move to Phase 3, but government will suspend de-escalation scheme and introduce new rules within hours
Barcelona, its metropolitan area and Lleida health regions moved to lockdown easing Phase 3 on Thursday, after Spain's health ministry accepted on Wednesday evening a proposal put forth by the Catalan government.
All Catalan health regions are now in the last stage of the de-escalation plan – meaning traveling within all of Catalonia will be permitted again for the first time in around three months.
Yet, Phase 3 will only last some hours, as the Catalan government is expected to suspend the de-escalation scheme on Thursday and introduce new rules for the time beyond lockdown easing, previously discussed in the Procicat civil protection crisis committee.
With the introduction of Phase 3, the Catalan executive automatically regained its full self-rule and the control of the basic public services involved in the Covid-19 pandemic, such as public health.
Quim Torra's executive is expected to put their own rules in place on issues like travel, hygiene, and face masks.
The state of alarm in Spain will come to an end on Sunday.