Spanish government declares state of emergency in Madrid, overriding local objection

Spanish police stop vehicles on the motorway to check passengers are following the restrictions on travel around Madrid

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Spain has placed Madrid under a state of emergency in order to re-install lockdown restrictions against the will of the local administration amid the worst scenes of political turmoil since the start of the pandemic.

With rising levels of infection in many parts of the country, Spain’s two largest political parties are battling over what measures to impose in Madrid, the worst-hit region in the country that has accounted for close to one-third of the close to 33,000 confirmed deaths caused by the virus.  

Restrictions, including a perimeter lockdown barring entry or exit from the capital for reasons other than work or essential personal business, were originally forced on the local government a week ago, but lapsed on Thursday after the Madrid supreme court deemed the mobility rule to be unlawful.

After it emerged that the Madrid administration, led by the conservative Popular Party (PP) along with the liberal Ciudadanos, was planning to revert to its previously preferred steps of closing off only the worst-hit neighbourhoods, the Left-wing coalition government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called an emergency cabinet meeting for Friday morning to place the capital region under a two-week-long state of emergency.

“The government of the Madrid region has decided to do nothing,” said Health Minister Salvador Illa.

“Right now there are 3,361 people in hospital in the region. We can stand by with our arms folded or we can combat the virus,” Mr Illa added.

Members of Mr Sánchez’s government said that Madrid regional leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso had refused offers to hold a meeting to negotiate a new lockdown after Thursday morning’s court verdict had seen the restrictions on Madrid and at least eight other suburban towns around the capital lapse, opening the possibility for tens of thousands of Madrid residents to travel around Spain during what is a long weekend as Monday is Spain’s nation day.

While the Spanish cabinet sat to approve the state of emergency, Madrid’s health chief announced restrictions on 51 health districts, despite the fact that this plan was about to be superseded.

But Spain’s main opposition party hit back with angry rhetoric. PP leader Pablo Casado said Prime Minister Sánchez was “long on arrogance and short on dialogue”.

Speaking for the Madrid regional government, justice chief Enrique López said the state of emergency was a “disproportionate and sectarian […] attack on all Madrid people”.

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After 24 hours of confusion over what rules, if any, were in place, the city of Madrid has in effect returned to the mobility restrictions of the past week, and a ban of meetings of more than six people, with all indoor public spaces limited to half-capacity and to close by 11pm.

For Julián Ezquerra, a family doctor and secretary general of Madrid’s Amyts medical association, Friday was “a sad day” as Spanish leaders “dragged the level of politics down to the mud”.

Dr Ezquerra lamented the fact that politicians were fighting over systems of light lockdown rules which were very similar, when, in his view, a 10-day complete shutdown would probably be more effective.