Laurence Dollimore
IT’S official, Spain will be under a state of alarm until May 9.
The motion put forward by Pedro Sanchez’s Government passed through Congress today with 194 votes in favour and 53 against, while 99 Spanish MPs abstained.
For the next six months, the autonomous communities will have extra powers to impose restrictions in a bid to fight the coronavirus.
The Partido Popular abstained from the vote while far right Vox voted against the measure.
The centre right Ciudadanos voted for the state for alarm.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez controversially did not argue his case in Congress today, leaving it to the health minister Salvador Illa.
“The Government is aware that citizens are beginning to get fed up, but this is not the time to relax measures,” Illa told Spanish Deputies (MPs).
“We are facing weeks, months, which are going to be very hard. We still have a long horizon ahead of us.”
“The current scenario is very worrying as winter approaches and therefore, and because a good number of regions have requested it, the Government has decided to put forward such a long state of alarm. We are now fully immersed in the second wave of the pandemic.”
