Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Sunday announced a second nationwide state of emergency yesterday and ordered an overnight curfew across the country in a bid to combat a resurgence in coronavirus infections.
He told told the nation in a televised address that the extraordinary measure will go into effect yesterday night.
Sánchez also announced the imposition of an 11 p.m.-6 a.m. nationwide curfew, except in the Canary Islands.
Spain’s 19 regional leaders will have authority to set different hours for the curfew as long as they are stricter, close regional borders to travel and limit gatherings to six people who don’t live together, the prime minister said.
“The reality is that Europe and Spain are immersed in a second wave of the pandemic,” Sánchez said after meeting with his Cabinet.
Spain this week became the first European country to surpass 1 million officially recorded COVID-19 cases. Sánchez said Friday in a nationally televised address that the true figure could be more than 3 million, due to gaps in testing and other factors.
Spain’s government has already declared two state of emergencies during the pandemic. The first was declared in March to apply a strict home confinement across the nation, close stores, and recruit private industry for the national public health fight. It was lifted in June.
