The home confinement imposed in the spring of 2020 on the Spaniards during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic was declared unconstitutional on Wednesday by the country's highest court, which ruled that the legal tool chosen by the government of socialist Pedro Sanchez was not the right one.

The home confinement imposed on the Spaniards in spring 2020 during the first wave of the pandemic was declared unconstitutional on Wednesday by the country's highest court, which ruled that the legal tool chosen by the government of socialist Pedro Sanchez was not not the right one.

Asked by the far-right party Vox, the Constitutional Court ruled, by a narrow majority of six votes to five, declaring "unconstitutional and void" three paragraphs of the decree of March 14, 2020 which had established the state of 'health emergency.

The court did not question the relevance of the measures adopted by the left-wing government to slow the advance of the Covid-19, but the legal mechanism chosen, namely the state of health emergency, according to judicial sources interviewed by AFP.

The decision could lead to the cancellation of numerous fines

As the decree limited the fundamental rights of citizens, the court ruled that the government should have resorted to a state of emergency, which, unlike a state of health emergency, requires the prior approval of Parliament. , said these sources.

Among the provisions censored by the court is the one that restricted the freedom of movement of people and stipulated that Spaniards could only go out alone and only for very limited reasons, including shopping, fetching medicine, going to work, etc. seek treatment or provide assistance to dependent persons.

In fact, the decision of the Constitutional Court could lead to the annulment of numerous fines imposed on those who had been stopped by the police without valid reason to justify their presence in the street.

In its beginnings, during the second half of March and the month of April, when the pandemic was raging, home confinement in Spain had been one of the strictest in the world: it was, for example, forbidden to go out. to play sports and the children had been locked at home for six consecutive weeks.

On the other hand, people were allowed to take their dogs out for a walk at any time.

After this first state of health emergency, which was extended by Parliament from two weeks into two weeks and lasted a total of 98 days, the Spanish government resorted to this measure again from the end of October 2020 until May 9. 2021, but this time without home confinement.