These new measures announced come before the end of Spain's 'State of Alarm' on May 9, and Portugal's border opening two days before its own confinement ends on May 3.
Until now, only residents or citizens in Portugal were allowed to cross over from Spain, and only Spanish citizens or residents in the country were permitted to travel over the frontier from Portugal – a situation that has been in place since January.
The only exceptions were for goods deliveries and cross-border workers, but even then, many traders on either side of the divide said they had noticed severe financial losses as a result.
Districts such as Ciudad Rodrigo in the province of Salamanca, Castilla y León, are among these, and its direct neighbour, the Almeida district in eastern Portugal.
Workers and residents in the Spanish provinces of Ourense (Galicia), Zamora and Salamanca (Castilla y León), Badajoz and Cáceres (the two that make up Extremadura), and Huelva (Andalucía) who have been used to popping up the road into Portugal can now do so again.
Portuguese day-trippers also contribute to the economy in these provinces, for shopping, sightseeing, visiting and other reasons.
Two days after Portugal reopens to Spain, the eastern region of the Comunidad Valenciana – the three Mediterranean coastal provinces of Alicante, Valencia and Castellón – will see bars and restaurants closing at 22.00 rather than, as has been the case for most of 2021, at 18.00.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com