Barcelona’s beaches partially open as Spanish govt decides on next steps to exit lockdown

The Spanish government is expected to decide on Friday in which of its regions bars, restaurants and places of worship may reopen, under the next phase of a gradual exit from the coronavirus lockdown.

It looked likely that Madrid and Catalonia would not move forward but, in a sign of life returning to normal, Barcelona's beaches opened for a short window from 6am to 10am on Friday, to allow people to swim and jog. People paddled on boards and swam in the water under the supervision of police.

However, Spain’s daily death toll from the novel coronavirus rose to 229 on Friday, up from 213 on the previous day, according to the Health Ministry.

Overall deaths rose to 26,299 from 26,070 on Thursday and the number of diagnosed cases rose to 222,857, up from 221,447 the day before, Reuters reports.