Madrid (AFP)

Nearly a million inhabitants of Madrid and its surroundings have been subjected again since Monday morning, for a period of two weeks, to severe restrictions on their movements in an attempt to slow down the explosion of cases of Covid-19 in the Spanish capital and its region.

In Puente de Vallecas, one of the neighborhoods in the south of Madrid targeted by these measures, police cars randomly stopped vehicles entering or leaving to check if the driver had a document justifying his trip, noted journalists from AFP.

- Calm and resignation -

"I imagine that something had to be done" in the face of the upsurge in coronavirus cases, commented Gustavo Ojeda, 56, who was returning home after a night of work in an industrial area near Madrid, explaining that he had in his possession a permit issued by his employer to justify his trip.

"Now, are these measures the most appropriate, that I am not sure", he continued, reflecting the doubts caused by the announcement Friday of the president of the regional government, Isabel Diaz Ayuso .

The approximately 850,000 people concerned (out of a total population of 6.6 million in Madrid and the region) are now prohibited from leaving their neighborhood except for very specific reasons: to go to work or study, to go to a doctor, to respond to a summons of a legal nature or to take care of dependent persons.

The inhabitants of these districts, now classified in the red zone, have, on the other hand, the right to move there and are therefore not forced to stay at home.

Authorities have assured that they will refrain from fining offenders for the first two days.

An assessment will be drawn up after two weeks of application of these measures, in order to see whether they should be extended, lightened or, on the contrary, toughened.

The goal of the regional authorities, which alone have competence in health policy, but also that of the socialist government of Pedro Sanchez, is to avoid having to decree a new general confinement similar to that of last spring, whose economic impact had been disastrous.

- "Serious" contamination rate -

But many experts believe that these measures were taken too late and doubt whether they will be able to stop the proliferation of cases.

Madrid and its region have become the epicenter of the pandemic in Spain, one of the European countries hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The districts of the capital and the neighboring suburbs affected by these restrictions all have a contamination rate of more than 1,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the last two weeks, a level that Ms. Diaz Ayuso, the president of the region, described on Friday as " extremely serious ".

But its detractors point out that some municipalities where the rate is also above 1,000 have been spared.

Others also criticize the fact that parks and public gardens in these areas have been closed, while bars and restaurants are simply obliged to limit the number of customers they can accommodate to 50% of the capacity of these establishments. .

The regional government has also decided to reduce the number of people who can gather in public or private from 10 to six across the region.

Sign of the gravity of the situation, Pedro Sanchez and Mrs. Diaz Ayuso had been meeting since midday at the headquarters of the regional government to coordinate their actions against the pandemic.

Spain passed 30,000 dead and 600,000 confirmed cases last week.

This country has recorded for several days more than 10,000 new cases every 24 hours, with even a daily record of more than 14,000.

© 2020 AFP