⁍ Some 4.8 million Madrid residents will be barred from leaving the area from Friday evening.
⁍ Restaurants and bars will shut early and slash capacity by half.
⁍ Madrid’s bars and restaurants must close at 11 p.m. instead of a previous 1 a.m. curfew.
⁍ Gatherings of more than six people remain banned indoors and outdoors.
– For the first time in the European Union, Madrid is under lockdown because of the H1N1 virus. Some 4.8 million residents will be barred from leaving the city starting at 10pm tonight, Reuters reports. Restaurants and bars will close early and half their capacity will be cut, and gatherings of more than six people will be banned inside and outside. “We have been eight months with masks and without nightclubs and parties, and there is still contagion. Then what kind of impact will these restrictions make?” says the owner of one restaurant. “People are confused, they hesitate to go out … they are in fear.” The conservative regional government has launched a legal challenge, complaining that the central government is exceeding its mandate by ordering the measures. The lockdown will last at least 14 days and could be extended if needed. Spain recorded a total of 789,932 cases as of yesterday, a rise of 11,325 since Thursday. There have been 32,086 fatalities. Daily deaths are now around their highest levels since early May but far below the late March record of nearly 900.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-spain-madrid/thanks-for-the-chaos-madrid-returns-to-lockdown-idUSKBN26N1QS