A sign shows rules for wearing facemasks on the beach at Playa Dorada in Lanzarote, Spain on 22nd November 2020. Beaches and resorts across the island are nearly deserted since tourism plummeted due to Covid restrictions elsewhere in Europe. Although the Canary Islands have been relatively unscathed by the virus, with 155 lives lost from 2.1 million residents, the region is heavily dependent on tourism and locals are hoping that numbers recover as lockdown measures ease and vaccines potentially reduce the numbers of infections. (Photo by Jonathan Perugia/In Pictures via Getty Images)
Spain has done a U-turn after initially demanding tourists wore masks on the beach (Picture: Jonathan Perugia/In Pictures via Getty Images)

British tourists visiting Spain this summer will no longer be required to wear a face mask while sunbathing or swimming.

Health chiefs have now abandoned strict plans demanding people wear face coverings while they are on the beach, swimming in an outdoor or covered pool, or in the sea.

But holidaymakers must wear a mask when they are walking to the beach or using communal facilities.

They are also required in outdoor restaurants, cafes or bars – except when customers are eating or drinking.

Authorities released a statement confirming face coverings will not be mandatory while sunbathing or swimming but urged people to be ‘careful’, the Telegraph reports.

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Masks can be removed on the beach when a person ‘remains in a specific place’ and ‘respects a minimum distance of 1.5 metres from non-household members’.

The ‘draconian’ rules, first announced on March 30, were revised amid widespread criticism as tourism bosses feared people would travel elsewhere this summer.

José Luis Zoreda, vice-president of Exceltur, an organisation that represents Spain’s tourism industry, told newspaper El País at the time: ‘We’re going through hell with thousands of jobs and businesses threatened and now they want to turn the beaches into open-air field hospitals.’

People sunbathe at Las Teresitas beach in the Spanish Canry Island of Tenerife on May 25, 2020, on the first day after beaches reopened in parts of the country after months-long closures. - Regions incorporating just under half of Spain's nearly 47 million inhabitants were moving into phase two of the three-stage rollback that is due to be completed by the end of June. (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN / AFP) (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN/AFP via Getty Images)
Sunbathers will no longer be required to wear a mask on the beach in Spain (Picture: Desiree Martin / AFP via Getty Images)
A woman wearing a face mask walks on Sa Conca beach in Castell-Platja D'Aro near to Girona, on March 31, 2021. - Spain tightened face masks rules, making them mandatory outdoors and in all public places. Face masks have been obligatory since May 2020 but only in places where it was not possible to maintain at least two metres (6.5 feet) of social distancing. The new law will come into effect today once it is published in the official government gazette. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP) (Photo by JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)
Spain revised the rules after making face masks mandatory on the beach at the end of March (Picture: Josep LAGO / AFP via Getty Images)

Holidaymakers also apparently complained sunbathing with a mask would leave them with ‘two-tone faces’.

The decision has sparked some fears of a potential spike in coronavirus cases.

But many also welcomed the move on social media.

One person wrote: ‘Who the hell is going to lie on a beach with a mask on?’

Others described the initial rule as ‘bonkers’, ‘totally ridiculous’ and ‘absolutely crazy’.

Another said: ‘I can’t believe it was even imposed in the first place’.

Tourists sit at a restaurant as others enjoy a day at Las Vistas beach on the Canary Island of Tenerife on October 31, 2020. - Spain has declared a national state of emergency and a curfew covering all of Spain except the Canary Islands where infections are lower. (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN / AFP) (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN/AFP via Getty Images)
Masks will still be required in restaurants and cafes – except when patrons are eating or drinking (Picture: Desiree Martin/AFP via Getty Images)

It comes as dozens defied Covid-19 rules to attend an impromptu beach party in Barcelona last week, police said.

Meetings of more than six people are banned in the region of Catalonia, northern Spain, where rulebreakers could face fines in excess of £500.

Police in parts of the Balearic Islands, including Mallorca, resorted to using drones to monitor sunbathers during the Easter break.

A night vision drone was also deployed in a bid to halt illegal parties, local media reported.

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