Spain declares new national state of emergency over coronavirus

25 October 2020, 19:04

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez
Spain Politics. Picture: PA

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said an 11pm to 6am curfew will be enforced across the country, except in the Canary Islands.

The Spanish government has declared a new national state of emergency that includes an overnight curfew aimed at avoiding a repeat of the near collapse of the country’s hospitals.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the decision to restrict free movement on the streets of Spain between 11pm and 6am allows exceptions for commuting to work, buying medicine and caring for elderly and young family members.

He said the curfew takes effect on Sunday night and will likely remain in place for six months.

“The reality is that Europe and Spain are immersed in a second wave of the pandemic,” Mr Sanchez said during a nationwide address after meeting with his Cabinet.

“The situation we are living in is extreme.”

The leaders of Spain’s 17 regions and two autonomous cities will have the authority to set different hours for the curfew, as long as they are stricter; close regional borders to travel, and limit gatherings to six people who do not live together, the prime minister said.

The curfew does not apply to the Canary Islands.

With the mainland curfew, Spain is following the example of neighbouring France, where the government ordered a 9pm to 6am curfew for major cities and large swathes of the country this week.

Health officials have been targeting nightlife as one of the main sources for the latest revival of infections.

Mr Sanchez said he will ask Parliament’s lower house this week to extend the state of emergency until May.

Virus Outbreak Spain
Residents wearing face masks walk along a near-empty street in Pamplona (Alvaro Barrientos/AP)

As dictated by the constitution, a state of emergency can last no longer than two weeks without the endorsement of the Congress of Deputies.

Spain’s second nationwide emergency of the pandemic is not as restrictive as the mandatory home confinement Mr Sanchez ordered in March and lasted for six weeks before being gradually relaxed as the number of new confirmed cases fell.

“There is no home confinement in this state of emergency but the more we stay at home, the safer we will be,” he said.

“Everyone knows what they have to do.”

Authorities want to avoid a second complete shutdown of the country of 47 million to avoid dealing another heavy blow to an economy.

But with the infection rate gaining steam ever since it started rising again in August, health experts have clamoured for action at national level, arguing the crisis requires more than a patchwork of regional measures.

Several regional leaders, who run Spain’s decentralised healthcare system, had asked in recent days for the national government to declare a national state of emergency.

The state of emergency makes it easier for authorities to take swift action without having to get many types of public health restrictions approved by a judge.

Some judges have rejected efforts to limit people’s movements in certain regions, causing confusion among the public.

The loss of life must be as low as possible but we also must protect our economy

Pedro Sanchez

Spain this week became the first European country to pass one million officially recorded Covid-19 cases.

But Mr Sanchez admitted on Friday in a nationally televised address that the true figure could be more than three million due to gaps in testing and other factors.

Spain reported almost 20,000 new daily cases and 231 more fatalities on Friday, taking the country’s death toll in the pandemic to 34,752.

Confirmed cases are rising across the peninsula, the Balearic Islands and Spain’s two African enclaves.

Under the first state of emergency, Spain’s military battalions were deployed to disinfect retirement homes and set up field hospitals.

So far, this has not been necessary with Spain’s retirement homes better prepared and its hospitals having a slower, if steady, rise in cases.

“The loss of life must be as low as possible but we also must protect our economy,” Mr Sanchez said.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Hamas releases names of latest Israeli hostages to be freed as part of Gaza ceasefire deal

Hamas releases names of latest Israeli hostages to be freed as part of Gaza ceasefire deal

Donald Trump has ordered the release of the last classified files surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy on Thursday, vowing that ‘everything will be revealed’.

JFK's grandson slams Trump after president orders assassination files to be made public

President Donald Trump (C) receives the Order of Abdulaziz al-Saud medal from Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud

Trump demands $1 trillion investment and a reduction in oil prices from Saudi Arabia

Asylum seekers rush to be processed by border patrol agents at an improvised camp near the US-Mexico border

Trump sends 1,500 troops to Mexican border with plans to up army presence to 10,000 in immigration crackdown

Donald Trump has ordered the release of the last classified files surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy on Thursday, vowing that ‘everything will be revealed’.

'All will be revealed': Trump orders last JFK assassination files to be released

The service says it saw a huge jump in signups following the January 6 riot, which prompted Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to crack down on Trump and others who they said had incited violence. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

January 6 rioter arrested on gun charges less than 24 hours after Trump pardon

Evacuations were ordered for remote communities near a new fast-moving wildfire in mountains north of Los Angeles.

30,000 evacuated as new wildfire breaks out near Los Angeles

Donald Trump holds a letter that former President Joe Biden left for him

Donald Trump reveals what Joe Biden wrote in 'inspirational' farewell letter

Primary school children reading in a classroom in the UK.

Gender pay gap starts at 6, study finds, as boys ‘tend to overestimate their abilities compared to girls’

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanised Brigade press service, a Ukrainian soldier pets his cat standing by the Christmas tree on the frontline in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024.

Ukrainian troops using cat meows to ‘lure Russian troops towards booby-traps’

Aschaffenburg, Germany. 22nd Jan, 2025. Fire and rescue service vehicles are parked near the scene of a crime.

Horror as two-year-old boy and man killed in knife rampage in German park, as Afghan suspect arrested

Margo Neas holds her cat Mittens at her home in Melbourne, Australia

Mittens the cat becomes accidental jetsetter after being forgotten on a plane by mistake

The British boy, originally from Oldham, was 11 years old when he went missing while travelling with his family in Marbella, Spain, in October 2017.

Alex Batty’s mum & granddad won't face criminal charges after keeping Brit teen in commune for six years

Humanitarian aid trucks enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, as a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect, in Rafah, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Israel confirms control of Rafah border crossing into Gaza during first phase of ceasefire deal

Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump in the crowd for the church service

Trump demands apology from Washington bishop who warned he was sowing fear among LGBTQ people

Donald Trump speak in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on January 21, 2025

Pregnant women and rights groups sue Trump over ‘flagrantly illegal’ birthright citizenship executive order