The Spanish government is stepping up its response to the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 after recording nearly 50,000 new cases on Tuesday (21 November).

Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez has told regional leaders the new mask mandate will become law before Christmas, the BBC reports. The country will also accelerate its booster programme.

Sanchez, though, played down the prospect of prohibitive regional travel restrictions in Spain and said people would be able to celebrate Christmas freely.

It is the latest development in Europe’s battle with the Omicron variant of Covid-19, with several countries already having stepped up their response.

France and Austria have all but banned non-essential inbound travel, including leisure travel, throwing Europe’s ski season into doubt, while others like Portugal have reintroduced more stringent inbound testing regimes.

The Netherlands, meanwhile, has returned to a state of lockdown, although its response is significantly tougher than many of its European neighbours, the majority of whom have opted instead to limit gatherings and introduce curbs on opening times at bars and restaurants.