Date Published: 21/01/2021
ARCHIVED - Spanish government refuses to authorise earlier curfew or full lockdown
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
15 of 17 regional governments are reported to have demanded stricter night-time lockdowns
The Spanish government once again stood firm on Wednesday in refusing to bow to the pressure being exerted by regional administrations to allow the start of the night-time curfew to be brought forward to 20.00 in an effort to bring coronavirus infection rates down, despite 15 of the 17 Autonomous Communities requesting that this modification be made to the conditions of the current national state of emergency.
The numbers of Covid infections, deaths and hospital patients have reached unprecedented levels during the third wave of contagion, fuelled by the relaxations of restrictions on travel and social gatherings over the Christmas and New Year holidays, but Salvador Illa, the Minister of Health, insists that the regional governments already have at their disposal sufficient powers to curb the spread of the pandemic. These powers include the right to enforce a curfew beginning at 22.00 at the earliest, but various regions have proposed bringing the nocturnal lockdown forward to 20.00 or even, in the case of Asturias, 18.00.
Similarly, many regional administrations are demanding the right to confine citizens to their homes, while the state of emergency which came into force on 25th October makes it possible only for them to restrict travel to within the boundaries of individual municipalities.
The latest meeting of the Inter-territorial Health Committee was held by video conference on Wednesday, and despite being bombarded with requests for modifications the central government steadfastly refused to give way, no doubt hoping for a dramatic improvement in the situation now that two weeks have passed since the end of the holiday season. At the same time Ministry officials stressed the practical difficulties of enforcing an earlier curfew, particularly in large towns and cities where many people are still working or on their way home until not long before 22.00 and the Ministry maintains that there are sufficient measures already available which can be enforced.
Nearly every regional authority has enforced additional restrictions within the last week; closing down bars and restaurants altogether, closing leisure facilities, closing sporting facilities, closing day centres for the young and elderly and bringing forward the closure time of non-essential shops and retailers. The Region of Murcia has even banned social gatherings of any size.
By adopting this stance, though, the government risks uniting the regional authorities and politicians of all parties against them, and in Castilla y León the opposition to Sr Illa’s policy is particularly strong. Last week the regional government there attempted to bring forward the curfew only for the national government to take the matter to the Supreme Court, and following the meeting on Wednesday Francisco Igea, vice-president of the Castilla y León government, called on the population of the region to engage in a “civic rebellion” by desisting from leaving their homes after 20.00.
If they were to heed his call then the act of rebellion perpetrated by the residents of Castilla y León would obviously not be punishable in any way, but would send an unmistakeable message to the government of Spain that on this occasion they have failed to gauge correctly the mood of the public as hospitals are overwhelmed by the scale of the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.