MADRID — The Spanish government is turning up pressure on opposition parties to approve another extension of the country’s state of emergency. The government says a failure to do so could “bring chaos.”
Transport and Mobility Minister José Luis Ábalos anticipates a tough debate in parliament on the issue Wednesday. He says the measure is “the most effective legal instrument” to fight the new coronavirus because it grants authorities the exceptional power to restrict freedom of movement.
Ábalos says that without it all the sacrifices made so far will have been “pointless.”
“There’s no Plan B, no alternative” to the state of emergency, Ábalos told a news conference in Madrid on Monday.
Health Minister Salvador Illa said it was “indispensable.”
Spain has managed to reduce the daily increase in the number of coronavirus infections from around 35% in mid-March to 0.16% because of a strict lockdown. More than 25,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the country.
