Much tougher sanctions in the Balearics

"It is essential to respect the rules in leisure spaces and avoid congestion in shopping centres,” she said and hinted that if that’s not enough to bring down infections an even tougher sanctioning regime will be implemented.

Breaking the rules will result in much bigger fines from Monday. Minor infractions that carried penalties of 100 to 3,000 euros, will become serious and incur fines of from 3,001 to 60,000 euros and serious infractions will become very serious and carry penalties of 100,000 euros and businesses will be forced to close for up to three years.

“Obviously breaking the rules at level 4 is not the same as breaking them at level one," said Castro who pointed out that the most common breaches are for not wearing face masks and exceeding the capacity limit.

"We know people want to reunite at Christmas,” admits Minister Castro, “but this is not a normal year, it's about saving lives and we have to redouble our efforts.”