Barcelona opens all its beaches and parks for walks this week

The Barcelona City Council has set a date when we'll be allowed to stroll along the beach and head into the rest of the city's parks that had remained closed, giving us two good bits of news to come out of Phase 0.5, where the vast majority of the metropolitan area find ourselves.

Beaches open but not for splashing around

This latest news is an important step in a city that has almost 5 km of coastline. Starting on Wednesday, seaside strolls will be allowed from 6am to 8pm. If you head to the beach for sports, you're still limited to the timetables outlined for such activities (6am to 10am or 8pm to 11pm).

That does indeed mean that anyone doing sport between 10am and 8pm could be subject to sanctions, as these hours are reserved only for walking. The Council also reminds us that from 8pm to 11pm, beach access is restricted to training for professional athletes.

In this current stage, swimming, wading or otherwise venturing into the sea will continue to be prohibited, and there will be no lifeguard and rescue service. Access to the sports and children's areas of the beaches will also be prohibited.

All parks open

Barcelona's green spaces are thriving, and the announcement of the reopening of the other parks that have remained closed is another bit of happily received news this week. So far, 80 of them have been opened, and from Wednesday the 20th, Barcelona will bloom with a total of 148 parks opening their gates for walking and individual sports. Though parks normally open at 10am across the city, they'll now be opening at 8am with the aim of avoiding congestion. Among the parks reopening is Park Güell, which, for the time being, will be closed to the purchasing of tickets for cultural visits.

Get back to your spring cleaning and de-cluttering

Since the start of the state of alarm in the city, the street-collection service for old junk, bulky waste and furniture was cancelled. From Wednesday, however, it's back on, so you can get all that stuff out in front of your building on your street's assigned day of the week between 8pm and 10pm for pick-up.