Health Minister refuses to bring curfew forward to 8 pm

MadridRegions will have to make the most of the state of alarm approved last October in order to respond to the third wave of the pandemic, despite the fact that its incidence and hospital pressure is already higher in the state as a whole. The Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, refused to heed to the regional councillors' requests to bring the curfew forward from 10pm to 8pm or even to 6pm, as France has done. Despite the fact that on Saturday and Monday he was in favour if there was a consensus at the inter-territorial health council meeting, his team has only committed itself to studying it and has defended that the current measures, if combined in the most restrictive way, are sufficient to combat the pandemic.

The state of alert decree currently provides for the possibility of applying a curfew between 11 pm and 6 am, giving communities an hour's leeway. That is, it can be set between 10 pm and 7 am. But since France brought forward its curfew, Galicia, Andalusia and Castile and Leon have campaigned for the possibility of including this measure, to the point of challenging the Spanish government. The government of Castile and Leon approved last Saturday a night curfew from 8 pm, which the Spanish government has taken to court.

Making the most of current measures

Since then, however, other regions, including some governed by the Socialists such as Valencia, have shown their support of the measure. The Basque Country also suggested an 8 pm curfew and the closure of all non-essential shops at 19h during today's meeting. But Illa has defended that the current state of alarm, for practical purposes, already provides sufficient tools to respond to the third wave. "I insist: there is a set of measures that are already being used and will allow us to double the curve," said the minister at a press conference from Seville, where he has chaired the inter-territorial council online. He has also ruled out that he is avoiding the decision for fear of having to modify the state of alarm in Congress and not receiving enough votes, as well as denying any relation to the fact that Illa is the Socialist candidate in Catalonia and is against postponing the February 14 elections.

The Spanish government is asking regions to make the maximum out of the measures. This is what Catalonia has been doing, first with local lockdowns and limiting opening times of restaurants and the non-essential shops at weekends and those over 400 square meters also during the week. In fact, different regions have already applied even more severe measures: today, La Rioja announced the closure of all non-essential businesses and catering, as well as a local lockdown for one month.

Waiting for the effects of the restrictions

Illa has applauded these measures and has asked institutionsto explain that the effects of the measures can only be known two weeks after applying them. In fact, he noted that some regional councillors have questioned the bringing the curfew forward: it could lead to crowds when leaving work or just before the closure of shops. But for practical purposes some regions are already applying similar measures with the closure of non-essential shops at 6 pm or 8 pm.

At present, Catalonia has a night curfew of 22h to 6h in force since last October 25, during the second wave. Unlike other communities, the Catalan government has not lifted it at any time and has extended the measure for another fortnight, along with restrictions for the hospitality industry and closure of non-essential shops at the weekend, as well as all shops over 400 square meters. The Generalitat, for the moment, does not intend to extend these measures and wait for the results. But if infections and hospitalisations grow, the department of Health may try to lengthen the curfew.