Spain, one of the countries hardest hit by the global COVID-19 pandemic, on Monday started to ease tough lockdown restrictions that have kept people at home for more than a month and put a brake on economic activity.

With the daily death toll dropping for four days in a row to 517, there were signs the situation was taking a tentative turn for the better, with some businesses including construction and manufacturing, allowed to reopen.

However, most of the population remain confined to their homes – and shops, bars and public spaces will remain closed until at least 26 April. 

As some Spaniards made their return to work, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned the country was "far from victory" in its fight against the coronavirus.

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Death rate drops

Over the Easter weekend, Spain had its smallest daily increase in the number of deaths and new infections.

Government figures showed 517 new deaths in the past 24 hours from COVID-19, with the overall number of fatalities at nearly 17,500, with the number of confirmed cases totaling 169,496, up from 166,019 the previous day.

The ongoing drop in the death rate, alongside the country's stalling economy, has prompted the government decision to ease the lockdown measures.

On 30 March, Sanchez's ruling coalition tightened the lockdown by halting all non-essential activities for two weeks, helping slow a spiralling death rate that reached its peak in early April.

But on Monday morning many people at main transport hubs were handed face masks by police as they ended their lockdown and returned to work.

Returning to work

"You finally convince yourself that we are at home for a good cause," said Benito Guerrero, a 28-year-old communication consultant still locked at home in Madrid. "I wouldn't want to go back to work again until it is strictly necessary since that would put my health and others at risk."

Guerrero is not alone. Only a few commuters came in and out of Madrid's usually bustling Atocha train station on Monday morning. Road traffic was light, too, with mainly public buses on the streets.

Carlos Mogorrón Flores, a 27-year-old civil engineer in Talarrubias, Extremadura, was planning to return to work on Tuesday after the holiday, although he said that was still risky.

"I would have preferred to wait 15 more days confined to home or at least one more week and then come back. You are always afraid of catching it and even more so knowing that your life may be in danger, or your relatives," he said.

"I live with my parents and sister and they don't leave the house. That's what scares me the most."

Interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told Cadena Ser radio station that "the health of workers must be guaranteed. If this is minimally affected, the activity cannot restart."

The government plans to distribute 10 million masks to the public at places such as transport hubs, but despite their tentative approach, the decision to loosen the lockdown has drawn criticism from some regional leaders and unions.

In Catalonia, Spain's second worst-hit region, the government warned that the resumption of some work could lead to a rise in infections and wipe out the gains of the lockdown.

Quim Torra, president of the Government of Catalonia, wrote on Twitter that "sending people to work and returning to activity with only a few limitations, as announced by the Spanish government," was "irresponsible and reckless."

Read more: Spanish PM says the battle against coronavirus is 'far from victory'

The regional government issued recommendations including measuring employees' temperatures before entering the workplace and controls outside metro stations to guarantee a one-third occupancy rate.

"I think the confinement measures have been essential in flattening the curve of new infections and making me feel secure, and I consider myself very lucky to be able to continue my work from home," said Emily Tewes, 31, an environmental consultant in Barcelona.

"I'm not considered an 'essential worker,' but if I was, I might feel a bit concerned about having to return to work and travel on public transport this week."

Although health chiefs say the pandemic has peaked, they have urged the population to strictly follow the continued national lockdown for the vast majority of the country. 

"We are still far from victory, from the moment when he will recover normality in our lives," Sanchez said during a televised address on Sunday.

"We are all keen to go back out on the streets... but our desire is even greater to win the war and prevent a relapse," he added.

'Gradual' lifting of restrictions

The rest of the lockdown restrictions in the nation of around 47 million people will remain in place until 25 April, although the government has made clear it expects to announce another two-week extension.

The measures prevent people from going outside except to go to work if they cannot do so from home, buy food, seek medical care and briefly walk their dog.

Sanchez warned on Sunday that Spain had not entered the "second phase" in the fight against the coronavirus of a "de-escalation" of lockdown measures, "which will start at the earliest in two weeks and will be very gradual and very prudent."

"Health will always be the priority," he added.

On Sunday, Spain's tourism minister, Reyes Maroto, warned that rules on social distancing would remain in place this summer, "even on the beach."

"Until there is a vaccine, nothing will be the way it was before," she added in an interview published in daily newspaper El Pais.

Read more: No Easter parade: Online Masses as Spain cancels traditional festivities

Economic kick-start

The coronavirus is weighing heavily on the Spanish economy, with 900,000 jobs lost since mid-March.

One company reopening, Burgos-based industrial group Nicolas Correa, said it would take measures to prioritize the health of its staff.

"We will continue to work in shifts, with staggered entries and exits to avoid concentrations of staff," it said, adding that all workers would be provided with protective equipment.

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Spain is the world's second most visited country after France and tourism is crucial for the domestic economy, making up nearly 12 percent of gross domestic product. 

Luis de Guindos, vice president of the European Central Bank, said Spain's reliance on tourism would likely leave it exposed to a worse recession than the rest of Europe.

Traditional festivals were also disrupted over the weekend by the epidemic, including Sevilla's famed Holy Week.

Governments are under pressure to keep populations safe while preventing economic collapse, amid warnings of a downturn comparable with that during the Great Depression.

But the World Health Organization has warned countries against lifting lockdown restrictions too early.

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