Among the measures announced by the president of the Junta de Andalucia, Juanma Moreno, this Thursday (6 May) is one that affects the border closure of municipalities with a high rate of coronavirus cases – but only as long as the courts authorise it.

The end of the state of alarm on 9 May will see the lifting of the curfew in Andalucía and the opening of the region’s border. But the Junta has announced changes to the coronavirus cumulative incidence rate threshold when determining when a municipality should close its border to contain the spread of the disease.

The existing 14-day case rate limit of 500 per 100,000 inhabitants, which currently forces a town into lockdown, will disappear.

However, those towns with a cumulative incidence rate over 14 days of more than 1,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants will be still be required to close their border and close all non-essential commercial activity.

The four health alert levels (1, 2, 3 and 4) will serve to regulate the measures in the different municipalities. All the towns in Malaga province are at level 2, although as of 6 May, two – Alfarnate and Cuevas del Becerro – would fall within the new limitations by exceeding the 1,000 incidence rate.