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Spain is the country most affected in Western Europe by the corona pandemic. The biggest concern is Madrid. Due to the skyrocketing numbers, parts of the capital have been cordoned off. That has already sparked protests.
Due to the explosion of new corona infections in Madrid, several neighborhoods in the Spanish capital have been cordoned off since Monday. Around 850,000 people from the predominantly poorer neighborhoods of southern Madrid and the southern suburbs can no longer leave their neighborhood. The exceptions apply only to the way to work, to the doctor, or to taking children to school.
The new crown restrictions in Madrid apply for two weeks. Authorities have asked people in affected districts to stay home most of the time, even if there is no strict curfew, such as in spring in Spain, and people can move freely within their neighborhoods. However, from the outside, no one can enter the district. The police initiated the controls.
Protest in affected districts
Parks have been closed within neighborhoods. Shops, bars and restaurants can remain open, but the number of customers and guests must be cut in half. The meeting limit has been lowered from ten to six people throughout the region.
Since the measures mainly affect the densely populated and low-income neighborhoods in southern Madrid, protests had already broken out in some of the affected districts on Sunday. People held signs that said: “No to the social class curfew” and “They are destroying our neighborhoods and now they lock us up.”
The Community of Madrid asks the army for help
To control the situation in the Spanish capital, the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sanchéz, and the conservative president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, formed a working group. Members of the working group, including Spain’s Health Minister Salvador Illa, will meet today to discuss “joint responses in the fight against the pandemic.”
Ayuso also turned to the Spanish army for support. “We need help with disinfection. The local police and security forces also need support.” The policy is widely criticized for its crisis management.
The numerous corona cases in Madrid are of great concern to the central government, as the capital is also a major transportation hub. It is feared that a second corona wave could spread from Madrid to all of Spain. The authorities want to avoid a total closure as in spring with devastating consequences for the already ailing Spanish economy. Credit rating agency S&P lowered its outlook for Spain from stable to negative on Friday.
With more than 640,000 infections and almost 30,500 deaths, Spain is the country most affected in Western Europe by the corona pandemic. For weeks, more than a third of all new infections have occurred in the region around the capital.
Protest against close distance at the opera
The strong protests for fear of the infection had already caused a performance at the Teatro Real in Madrid to be canceled yesterday. Guests on the upper and cheaper tiers protested Sunday night with boos and shouts against insufficient safety distances. Giuseppe Verdi’s performance of the opera “Un Ballo in maschera” (A Masked Ball) was soon canceled due to continued outrage.
La Real announced that the protest “by a minority” had forced the termination, although “all applicable regulations had been complied with.” Only 51.5 percent of all spots were occupied. An investigation into the “regrettable incident” will be launched so that it does not happen again in the future, she said. The newspaper “ABC” spoke of a scandal. Videos posted by the media and visitors show that the upper steps in particular were crowded.
