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Residents of Madrid’s infection hotspot should be prohibited from leaving except on essential trips under new rules to combat the resurgence of the coronavirus, the government of Spain said on Wednesday.
But regional authorities said the decision had no legal basis, setting the stage for a political showdown in an area that accounts for more than a third of the 133,604 new cases in Spain in the past two weeks.
“The health of Madrid is the health of Spain. Madrid is special ”, said the Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, at a press conference to announce the new regulations, which will take effect in a few days.
The capital city, with more than 3 million residents, and nine surrounding municipalities with at least 100,000 residents each, will see borders closed to outsiders for non-essential visits, the government said.
People would be allowed to cross borders for work, school, doctor visits or shopping, but not for pleasure.
Other measures include the closing of bars and restaurants at 11 p.m., from the previous curfew at 1 a.m., as well as the closing of parks and play areas.
Social gatherings will be limited to six people.
Madrid has 735 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest regions in Europe and twice the national rate in Spain.
The conservative regional assembly had already imposed localized closures in 45 districts, mostly poor, often with a large immigrant population.
But the broader restrictions announced by Illa cause the socialist-led central government to override the regional authority after weeks of fighting over what should be done.
“The decision is not legally valid,” regional health chief Enrique Ruiz Escudero said repeatedly at a press conference about the closure plan, even though local authorities had apparently agreed to some measures on Tuesday. “The Spanish government is in a hurry to intervene in Madrid but not to defeat the virus.”
Escudero did not specify what steps regional authorities can take to oppose the shutdown.
Political polarization over the pandemic has exasperated people in Spain, which has recorded 769,188 cases, the highest in Western Europe, and 31,791 deaths. – Reuters
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