British clubbers to wear face masks and dance in 'allocated squares' when returning to Spain

BRITS heading to Spain for a party holiday are to see face masks, allocated "squares" to dance in and no cash allowed when clubbing this season.

The new measures are being proposed by Nightlife Spain, the National Association of Entrepreneurs of Leisure and Shows.

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They are expected to be introduced by the Spanish government in the next few days.

Other changes include DJs being confined to their personal booths, all coats and jackets having to be hung up in protective covers and no cash being allowed for entry fees or drink purchases.

While guests will be advised to wear masks if social distancing can't be guaranteed, squares on the dance floor will be mapped out similar to a chessboard for people to have their own "dance zones" – a very different picture to the old clubbing system where huge crowds congregate together in front of the stage and DJ.

Reserved areas and VIP boxes will be strongly promoted to guarantee the distance between groups of people, while ecological straws will be used to avoid the spread of coronavirus on glasses.

The group's president, Ramon Mas Espinalt says it is going to be vital for nightclubs and discos across Spain and its holiday island to follow the rules to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Nightlife venues will gradually start to open during June, depending on what stage of the COVID-19 de-escalation period they are in.

Mr Espinalt said it is essential they are ready and to give confidence to the millions of clubbers who flocked to party hotspots every year.

As with hotels, clubs and discos will face extensive hygiene and cleaning rules the likes of which have never been seen before.

This will include constant disinfecting everything both inside and outside the terraces, while doormen will control entry which will be done on a traffic light system.

Any entertainers or dancers will also have to abide by strict rules, including immediately changing their costumes and putting them into special bags and doing all their hair and make-up themselves.

The main message is to be "prudence and respect".

"We have to count on people's sense of responsibility," said a Nightlife spokesman.

Nightlife Spain will be carrying out different pilot tests and trials in real environments so clubs can only, mostly in phase three which some parts of Spain have already reached.

There are doubts about whether clubs and discos will open in Ibiza at this stage as the Balearic government says "we are not quite ready".

Ibiza fears the end of the party island's nightlife which attracts British tourists every year with "entire streets" of bars unlikely to be able to open ever again.

The Balearic Island region is reliant on tourism with major music festivals and club nights which normally take place during the summer being forced to cancel.

Ibiza club owner Phil Mandelbaum said smaller bars and clubs could face permanent closure if the busy tourist season fails to pick up in the next few months.

He told the Guardian: "You’ll see 15 bars along the same street as one of the main clubs, places that only open in the summer and stay afloat because people stop there for a drink on the way to a club.

"That’s a big part of Ibiza, the small bars and the shops. I’m expecting many of them to disappear."

Mr Espinalt says clubs and discos will face a major challenge in this unprecedented era but he is confident Spain's nightlife, an "icon" of the country, will succeed and emerge even stronger than before.

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