Coronavirus: Spain establishes a curfew throughout its territory

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Sunday the establishment of a state of health emergency until the beginning of May, which will be accompanied by a curfew throughout the country, except for the islands Canary Islands, in an attempt to break the second wave of Covid-19.

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An "extreme" situation

"The situation we are going through is extreme," said Pedro Sanchez in a televised address at the end of an extraordinary Council of Ministers, while Spain this week crossed the milestone of one million cases of Covid-19 and is facing a seemingly uncontrollable upsurge in the pandemic.

In this context, "the state of alert" (equivalent to the state of health emergency) constitutes "the most effective measure to bend the contagion curve", he continued.

He confirmed that the state of alert would initially last for 15 days, as provided for in the Constitution, and that he would then ask the Cortes (Chamber of Deputies) "to extend it until the beginning of May", mentioning the date of May 9, ie for six months.

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The Canary Islands archipelago spared

Regarding the curfew, the head of the Spanish government indicated that it would last in principle from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., with the possibility for regions to bring forward or delay its start by one hour, depending on local characteristics. .

Only the Canary Islands archipelago, off the northwestern coast of Africa, will not be subject to it, due to the low incidence of the new coronavirus, he explained.