ARCHIVED - Madrid ordered to confine as central Government imposes controversial order

The Government has decided to impose a confinement order, ignoring the reservations of several regional health authorities

The Government has decided not to negotiate any further with the Madrid government but will impose the measures it feels are necessary to slow down the spread of covid-19 in the capital.

The Spanish Government has moved swiftly to confront the increasing number of covid cases in the national capital of Madrid and on Thursday published an order in the BOE (the national state bulletin) ordering that all “municipios” in which three criteria apply, must impose uniform restrictions to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus, including Madrid.

This follows a week of arguments and negotiations between the regional Government of Madrid and the national Government about the measures being implemented to slow down the spread of Covid.

Finally, the Government has lost its patience and issued an order obliging the regional Government to confine most of the Madrid region, but applying the same conditions to every other area of Spain which meets the same criteria, thus avoiding accusations of political bias against Madrid.

In order to be included within the criteria, the municipios concerned must have a population in excess of 100,000 inhabitants and should :
-Have an accumulated incidence rate of more than 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the last 14 day period.
-The percentage of positive PCR tests must exceed 10%.
-35% of intensive care beds should be occupied by covid patients.

The Ministerial order specifies a list of the restrictions which must be imposed (listed at the bottom of the article), principal amongst which is a mobility restriction, which requires that residents remain within their municipality other than for a series of specific reasons, ie going to a medical appointment and imposes restrictions on specific actions, such as bar capacity, closing time of businesses etc, measures which are parallel to those already being imposed for example, on 45 health areas in Madrid City and even here in the Region of Murcia in the municipalities of Lorca, Jumilla and Totana.

Most of the measures are very similar to those used during the de-escalation plan, the main difference being the mobility restriction within the specific municipalities involved.

The immediate effect of the publication of the order in the BOE is that it is obligatory to proceed to the immediate confinement of any area which meets the criteria established in the order, and that means that within 48 hours these areas must be confined.

The areas which immediately meet that criteria are all within the Region of Madrid, namely urban Madrid, Alcalá de Henares, Alcobendas, Alcorcón, Fuenlabrada, Getafe, Leganés, Móstoles, Parla and Torrejón de Ardoz, confining five of the 6.6 million inhabitants of Madrid, including the main metropolitan area.

The order was issued telematically at 22:48 on Wednesday evening, so will come into effect at midnight on Friday evening.

There are more than 60 other areas of Spain which have a population of more than 100,000 so could theoretically be included within the order should case numbers rise. (see bottom of article for full list).

How have we reached this point?
During the first wave of the covid pandemic in Spain, Madrid was the region most castigated by the virus, yielding the largest numbers of cases and deaths in the country (to date the region has reported 241,286 cases tested by PCR and 16,585 deaths).

Yet the Madrid regional government, headed up by Isabel Díaz Ayuso, was one of the most vocally critical opponents of the policies instigated by central government and was one of the loudest voices amongst the heads of the regional governments calling for the state of emergency to be set aside and for the regional governments to be given control of their own regions, criticising the actions taken by the central Government and claiming that the regional governments would be able to manage a subsequent outbreak of covid better at a local level.

There is no doubt at all, that a lot of the posturing is politically motivated; Madrid is run by the conservative Popular Party (PP) in coalition with Ciudadanos, supported by far-right Vox.

The national government is run by a center-left coalition of the Socialist Party (PSOE) and Unidas Podemos and the most vocal critics are the regions run by PP governments and separatist governments such as Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque Country.

During the last few weeks of the national state of emergency, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez experienced increasing difficulty in persuading the regional governments to maintain the exceptional state of alarm until 21st June, and although he ideally wanted to maintain it further in order to bring covid cases right down to nothing, was forced to concede to the pressure from businesses and the regional governments to conclude it and return administrative power to the 17 autonomous regions.

However, he did establish legislation laying down the conditions under which the regional governments must act to contain any future outbreaks of the virus, amongst which was article 65 of the Ley 16/2003, de 28 de mayo giving the health department the power to act should it be necessary.

Throughout July the virus was under control, with few cases reported, but by August the case numbers had started to increase and outbreaks appeared in some areas of the country. The first confinements were in areas which had been the most vocal opponents to the national government and had exercised their right to leave the de-escalation process early, opening up freedom of movement earlier than the rest of the country, in Galicia and Catalonia.

These were followed by major outbreaks in Aragón and Navarra, linked to the temporary agricultural labourers who transit between Spain and France and work in different regions according to where their labour is needed, who spread the virus across the country.

By now, the holiday season was underway, young people ignoring restrictions to party, with free mobility, as a consequence of which, the virus started to spread widely and by the end of August there were hundreds of outbreaks in every region of Spain.

Since then, numbers have been growing again, followed by increased hospitalisations and now deaths, Madrid currently accounting for one third of all cases (on Wednesday Madrid reported 3,814 new cases and 52 deaths for the latest 24 hour period).

The regional Government initially imposed a confinement order on 8 health areas, accounting for 850,000 residents, and this was increased to 15 last Friday, or 15% of the Madrid population, around 1 million people, but the national Government was deeply unhappy that only a small part of the problem in Madrid was being tackled and insisted on talks to try and push Madrid to go further with the restrictions.
Last Friday the Prime Minister met with regional premier Ayuso and no agreement was reached other than a willingness to collaborate being expressed, which was little more than a show of political posturing.

By Monday the regional premier remained defiant, refusing to implement further confinements, something the national government was not willing to accept, so on Tuesday talks began between the health ministry and the regional president. An agreement was announced on Tuesday evening establishing the criteria now being adopted for all of Spain after Madrid accused the national government of “picking on” Madrid for political reasons, but by Wednesday morning Madrid had announced that it was refusing to accept the conditions.

A fierce day of discussions followed on Wednesday between the national Ministry of health and the health departments of the 17 autonomous regions, concluding with the “Inter-territorial Health Committee”, which to date has always unanimously accepted the proposals of the national ministry of health for joint collaboration.

The health minister had not expected opposition to this plan, as several of the PP governments have been pressuring the ministry to make more decisions centrally since the case numbers have started to rise, and having rejected the offer made to them of localised state of emergency interventions by the central government, have instead been pressuring for more centralised legislation to control the spread of the pandemic.

However, although the plan was approved by the PSOE-run regional governments, the PP regional governments voted against it, sparking accustaions that the PP is deliberately playing politics with the lives of the population as it fears losing its principal role of opposition party to far-right party Vox, which is gaining increasing support in Spain, “They are taking the country to a cliff edge,” one senior PSOE figure said.

As was only to be expected, Catalonia refused to back the plan, as did Galicia, with Madrid, Andalusia and Ceuta rejecting it, while Murcia abstained, although after said it had in fact opposed the plan, a surprising move as the Murcian regional president has been one of the most vocal in demanding that the national Government take control and legislate.

The regions voting against the document said that it hadn´t gone far enough, was a “wasted opportunity” as it should have applied the same conditions to all municipalities regardless of population size and should have been prepared in consultation with the regional governments.

On Wednesday evening the Madrid regional health chief, Enrique Ruiz Escudero, warned that “should the conditions be published” in the BOE, the region’s legal services would be examining them with a view to seeking legal action ( to prevent the enforcement.)

So on Wednesday evening the national Government went ahead regardless, published the text in the BOE (Click here to see the nine page long document in Spanish original format) and gave Madrid 48 hours in which to apply the confinement order.

The president of Madrid has said that she will do what she has been told to do, “Madrid is not in rebellion. Of course I will abide by the laws and we will do it strictly”, but there is little doubt that there will be protests and possibly public opposition to the measures in the capital and lawyers are busy poring over the text to find legal ways of refuting it.

Areas in which the order could theoretically be applied:

• Madrid: 3.266.126
• Barcelona: 1.636.762
• Valencia: 794.288
• Sevilla: 688.592
• Zaragoza: 674.997
• Málaga: 574.654
• Murcia: 453.258
• Palma: 416.065
• Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: 379.925
• Bilbao: 346.843
• Alicante: 334.887
• Córdoba: 325.701
• Valladolid: 298.412
• Vigo: 295.364
• Gijón: 271.780
• Hospitalet de Llobregat: 264.923
• Vitoria: 251.774
• A Coruña: 245.711
• Elche: 232.517
• Granada: 232.462
• Tarrasa: 220.556
• Badalona: 220.440
• Oviedo: 219.686
• Cartagena: 214.802
• Sabadell: 213.644
• Jerez de la Frontera: 212.749
• Móstoles: 209.184
• Santa Cruz de Tenerife: 207.312
• Pamplona: 201.653
• Almería: 198.533
• Alcalá de Henares: 195.649
• Fuenlabrada: 193.700
• Leganés: 189.861
• San Sebastián: 187.415
• Getafe: 183.374
• Burgos: 175.821
• Albacete: 173.329
• Santander: 172.539
• Castellón de la Plana: 171.728
• Alcorcón: 170.514
• San Cristóbal de la Laguna: 157.503
• Logroño: 151.503
• Badajoz: 150.702
• Salamanca: 144.228
• Huelva: 143.663
• Marbella: 143.386
• Lleida: 138.956
• Tarragona: 134.515
• Dos Hermanas: 133.968
• Torrejón de Ardoz: 131.376
• Parla: 130.124
• Mataró: 128.265
• León: 124.303
• Algeciras: 121.957
• Santa Coloma de Gramanet: 119.215
• Alcobendas: 117.040
• Cádiz: 116.027
• Jaén: 112.999
• Ourense: 105.233
• Reus: 104.373
• Telde: 102.647
• Girona: 101.852
• Baracaldo: 100.881

Confinement criteria (text being expanded)

As published in the BOE

Social contact
1)    The entry and exit of people from the municipalities provided for in section 1.1 will be restricted, except for those displacements, adequately justified, that occur for any of the following reasons: a) Attendance to health centers, services and establishments b) Compliance with labor, professional, business or legal obligations c) Attendance to university, teaching and educational centers, including nursery schools d) Return to the place of habitual residence e) Assistance and care for the elderly, minors, dependents, people with disabilities or especially vulnerable people f) Travel to financial and insurance entities that cannot be postponed g) Required or urgent actions before public, judicial or notarial bodies h) Renewals permits and official documentation, as well as other administrative procedures that cannot be postponed.i) Carrying out examinations or official tests that cannot be postponed j) Due to force majeure or situation of necessity k) Any other activity of a similar nature, duly accredited
2)    Movement on roads and highways that pass or cross the municipalities provided for in section 1.1 It will be possible, as long as it has its origin and destination outside of them. The movement of residents within the municipalities provided for in section 1.1 will be possible, always respecting the individual and collective protection measures established by the competent health authorities, without prejudice of the provisions of the recommendation established in section 3.1.2)

3)   Participation in groups of people for the development of any activity or event of a family or social nature, both on public roads and in public and private spaces, will be reduced to one maximum number of six people, except in the case of cohabitants, and except in the In the case of work and institutional activities or in the case of activities in which limits or specific measures are established

4)    Places of worship: The maximum capacity will be one third, guaranteeing in any case the minimum distance interpersonal 1.5 meters.

5)    Wakes: a) Maximum capacity of fifteen people in open-air spaces or ten in closed spaces, whether or not they coexist. B) Participation in the entourage for the burial or dismissal for the cremation of the deceased person will be restricted to one maximum of fifteen people
 
6) Establishments, commercial premises and services open to the public: a) Maximum capacity of fifty percent b) The closing time may not exceed 10 p.m., except for the exceptions that are foreseen.
  
7) Hotel and restaurant establishments and gaming and betting establishments: a) The maximum capacity will be fifty percent indoors and sixty percent outdoors b) Consumption at the bar will not be allowed c) Tables or groups of Tables must keep a distance of at least 1.5 meters from the chairs assigned to other tables or groups of tables d) The maximum occupancy will be six people per table or group number of tables e) No new customers may be admitted after 10 p.m. and the closing time may not exceed 11 p.m., except for food delivery services at home.

8) Academies, driving schools and Private non-regulated education centers and training centers not included in the scope of application of article 9 of Royal Decree Law 21/2020, of June 9: The maximum capacity will be fifty percent.

9) Sports facilities, both outdoors free and indoor a) The maximum capacity will be fifty percent indoors and sixty percent outdoors b) Sports practice in groups will be reduced to a maximum of six people c) In official competitions of state scope and non-professional nature and international competitions that are under the organizational tutelage of the Spanish sports federations that take place in the municipalities provided for in section 1.1, will be applicable and l Action protocol for the return of official state competitions and non-professional nature in the 2020/2021 season, prepared by the Superior Sports Council