Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. | Andreu Dalmau

Humphrey CarterPalma22/12/2021 09:58
TW
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The number of Covid cases in Spain is well below the rest of Northern Europe and I get the impression that the meeting called today by the Prime Minister is to look at the mid to long term. He will not be the country’s most popular person if he introduces a wave of restrictions on Christmas Eve.

Pedro Sánchez will be meeting with all of the regional leaders and apart from Catalonia, where the government want to reintroduce curfews and earlier closing times for clubs, bars and restaurants, the rest of the country does not want any knee-jerk reactions taken. The Balearics is a big fan of making more use of the Covid passports but experts claim this has a limited effect on bringing down the epidemiological curve. The existing vaccines are not sterilising and someone with a certificate can be infected - as Europe is witnessing.

Madrid can’t go for another lockdown. The first and only national lockdown in Spain, implemented in March 2020, has since been found to be unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court, so that’s not going to happen. Restricting movement from one region to another may be mentioned but it’s virtually impossible to enforce. Early closing of the hospitality sector, in particular interiors, is an option but it will not go down well with bars and restaurants. Plus the results of any short term action now will not be known for weeks after Christmas. Complicated.