Coronavirus: Spain turns to devolution and military in bid to flatten curve

Spain’s regional governments have been told they should declare a state of emergency if necessary in the coming weeks as the country attempts to bring the resurgence of Covid-19 under control.

Prime minister Pedro Sánchez admitted that the continuing spread of coronavirus was “worrying”. But he sought to reassure Spaniards by announcing new measures to combat the pandemic.

“We have already flattened the curve in more adverse and dramatic situations than that we are seeing now,” the Socialist leader told a news conference on Tuesday. “I am convinced that we will do so again through the responsibility of each and every person.”

Since lifting a three-month lockdown in late June, Spain has seen a steady increase in infections, particularly among younger people. On Tuesday, the health ministry reported 7,117 new cases, 2,415 over the previous 24 hours.

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The country currently has the highest cumulative incidence of infections over two weeks in the EU, with 153 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Mr Sánchez said he encouraged any of Spain’s 17 regional governments to declare a state of emergency should they deem it necessary. That would give local authorities increased powers to introduce restrictions, or even a lockdown, with relatively little legal resistance. It could, for example, prevent situations like that in Madrid recently, where a court prevented the local government from enforcing a ban on smoking in public.

Armed forces

Devolving the use of the state of emergency will also take pressure off the national government, which was heavily criticised from some quarters for using the legal mechanism earlier this year to manage the national lockdown.

The prime minister said that 2,000 members of the armed forces will be deployed to help with tracing. He also called on Spaniards to download a tracing app, Radar Covid, onto their phones.

“Digital resources can save lives,” he said.

With the academic year due to begin in early September, Mr Sánchez said that the safety of schools will be ensured. Regional governments are preparing for the resumption of school and in the Madrid region, younger children are scheduled to return to classes, while older students are expected to combine in-school study with working from home.

Spain has officially registered just under 29,000 deaths due to Covid-19 and it is the first European country to surpass 400,000 infections. Areas such as Catalonia and neighbouring Aragón, in the northeast, have been heavily affected over the summer.

Small gatherings

This week, Catalonia has banned gatherings of more than 10 people. It also plans to carry out 500,000 tests in schools.

"Over the next three weeks everything that might happen in the autumn and winter will be at stake," warned Catalan president Quim Torra on Monday.

While measures taken in Catalonia and Aragón appear to have slowed the infection rates in those areas, Madrid and its surrounding region are now a major concern.

On Sunday, the small town of Tielmes, southeast of the capital, reintroduced tight restrictions, due to an outbreak which has seen at least 39 infections and one death.