Kuncitara Impact On The City Of Madrid

Photo illustration (Mike Swigunski / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Madrid residents will be prohibited from leaving the city, except for urgent reasons. The ban is related to the lockdown policy established by the Spanish Government in the region.

According to the new regulations issued along with the lockdown policy, city borders will also be closed to prevent the entry of people from outside Madrid. The regulation will be enforced separately in municipalities with high transmission.

Nine other cities around Madrid will also be subject to the new restrictions. "Madrid's health is the health of Spain. Madrid is special," Health Minister Salvador Illa said in a press conference on Thursday, October 1.

Residents will be allowed to travel across city boundaries to work, study, visit doctors or go shopping. However, they must remain in the city if they want to do recreational activities.

Other measures to be implemented include closing bars and restaurants at 11pm. Previously, the rules set the maximum closing limit for bars and restaurants at 01.00.

Public parks and playgrounds will also be closed. Meanwhile, participants who attend the get-together will be limited to six people.

The Madrid region, which is currently in the red zone, accounted for at least a third of the 133,604 cases found in Spain over the past two weeks. The conservative regional assembly has imposed local lockdowns in 45 districts.

However, this decision had caused disputes with the central government. The highest authorities are pushing for citywide closures.

Spain has recorded a total of 769,188 cases of the coronavirus, more than any other country in Western Europe. The total number of fatalities in Spain due to COVID-19 reached 31,791.