BARCELONA (Reuters) – Catalonia announced on Thursday a 15-day ban on entering and exiting its territory, the latest in a series of restrictions taken by Spanish regions to try and contain rampant COVID-19 contagion.
Catalonia, home to the city of Barcelona, is one of the virus’ hotspots and has already some of the toughest measures in place in the country, including a 15-day shutdown of bars and restaurants, which will also be extended.
It announced the new measures as the parliament in Madrid debated a nationwide state of emergency, which the central government wants to last until May to give regions legal backing for taking such restrictive measures.
“The government is aware that citizens are tired after months of effort and sacrifices, of not being able to do what they used to do before, to hug people, our family and friends,” Health Minister Salvador Illa told parliament.
“But it is not the time to relax measures, we have very tough weeks and months ahead of us.”
After a lot of political wrangling over how to tackle the crisis, the government is expected to gather enough support for parliament to approve the extension of the state of emergency at a vote later on Thursday.
(Reporting by Joan Faus; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Nathan Allen)
