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The new state of emergency will last until early May, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in a televised speech.
A man with a mask passes by the plaque of the new square called ‘Plaza Coronavirus’ in Valencia on September 17, 2020. The name of the square was temporarily changed to publicize the importance of scientists and research during the pandemic of coronavirus. Image: AFP.
MADRID – The Spaniards on Sunday declared a state of national emergency and a curfew covering all of Spain except the Canary Islands, in an attempt to stem a second wave of coronavirus cases.
The new state of emergency will last until early May, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in a televised speech.
“The situation we are going through is extreme,” he stressed.
The measures were agreed to early Sunday at a two-and-a-half-hour cabinet meeting called to respond to calls from regions for powers to impose curfews to combat rising coronavirus cases.
A government statement said the night curfew will run from 11:00 pm to 6:00 am.
While the state of emergency would initially last 15 days, it would go to parliament to extend it for six months, the statement added.
They were responding to calls for help from 10 Spanish regions and the city of Melilla, he said.
Under the state of emergency, the regions would have the power to limit movement within and outside their territories.
Spain became the first European country on Wednesday to register more than a million cases of the virus.
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