The lockdown was approved by the Council of Ministers at an extraordinary meeting on Friday chaired by Carmen Calvo.
The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez informed the President of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso of the measures which will be in force for 15 days, the maximum allowed by the Constitution to the Government. Any extension will have to be approved by Congress.
Ayuso’s refusal to agree to the confinement of Madrid, despite mediation attempts by Vice President Ignacio Aguado forced the Council of Ministers to make a decision on Friday. Ayuso asked Prime Minister Sánchez for more time, but was told that "public health must be protected" and a State of Emergency would be approved. Sánchez and Ayuso have agreed that their teams will continue to discuss scenarios over the next 15 days.
The Government pointed out that Prime Minister Sánchez responded to Ayuso's request for more time, "out of courtesy" and postponed the extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers from 08:30 until 12:00. But Ayuso reportedly did not call Sánchez back until Friday's meeting in Moncloa had already begun.
The new restrictions will be published in the BOE on Friday and enforced immediately to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
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Yes, let’s shut down the second largest city in the EU with Draconian lockdown measures, while stripping the rights of our citizens. All for a disease which has a 99.6% survival rate. The data shows a 1.3% rate of people 65+ dying from Covid while the rate for those 0-49 is 0.05 %. By comparison the seasonal flu has a mortality rate of 0.1!Brilliant! Source: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/planning-scenarios.html
This is exactly what has been the problem in Spain for a long time. "Let's all have a holiday, let's have a party, celebrations" etc. And even now it's their main priority - The summer holidays have only just finished for God's sake! Old habits die hard, but the sooner people get used to the new normal the better. Time to bring in the Military if that's what it takes.
About time. Thousands of people exiting Madrid Friday night, spreading more problems to all of Spain eve tough many have second homes is not reasonable. I can sympathise, but to set other regions back including Mallorca is not respectful of the months many have spent in limbo.