Coronavirus: Spain imposes near total lockdown to fight spread of virus

Spain’s government announced Saturday that it is placing tight restrictions on movements and closing restaurants and other establishments in the nation of 46 million people as part of a two-week state of emergency to fight the sharp rise in coronavirus infections.

Spain has followed Italy’s path in implementing a similar lockdown after both European countries failed to contain the virus in regional hotspots.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez detailed the battery of exceptional measures in a nationally televised address after holding a Cabinet meeting that lasted over seven hours. The delay was reportedly due to discrepancies in the coalition government of Sanchez’s Socialists and the anti-austerity United We Can.

“From now we enter into a new phase,” Sanchez said. “We won’t hesitate in doing what we must to beat the virus. We are putting health first.”

After the prime minister spoke, people broke into a long round of applause from balconies in Madrid and Barcelona, with some firing off fireworks, in response to a call on social media for a show of support for the country’s doctors and nurses. Others joined in, relieved that the government was taking more action.