A TALE OF TWO CITIES THROUGH the LOOKING-GLASS
AS the windfall fruit began to fall from the trees earlier this month the spectre of a second wave of the virus emerged in Europe.
On October 9, the Spanish government declared a state of emergency in Madrid on Friday, wresting control of efforts to fight the spread of COVID-19 from local authorities in a region that is experiencing one of Europe’s most significant coronavirus outbreaks.
The step, which took immediate effect and lasts for two weeks, forcing Madrid's regional authorities to restore restrictions on travel that had been introduced by the national government but were struck down the previous day by a Madrid court ruling.
That successful legal challenge by Madrid officials was part of a long quarrel between the country’s main political parties over their coronavirus response. Those differences, and the changing rules, have often dismayed and confused local residents.
The Madrid region’s 14-day infection rate of 563 coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents is more than twice Spain’s national average of 256 and five times the European average rate of 113 for the week ending Sept. 27.
The central government’s measures prohibit all nonessential trips in and out of the capital and nine of its suburbs, affecting some 4.8 million people. Restaurants must close at 11 p.m. and stores at 10 p.m.. Both must limit occupancy to 50% of their capacity.
The national government had ordered police in Madrid to fine people if they left their municipalities without justification. More than 7,000 police officers will now be deployed to ensure the restrictions are observed, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said.
The Spanish government announced the state of emergency after a hastily arranged Cabinet meeting in the wake of the court ruling. Health Minister Salvador Illa said the previous measures would come back into force and that only the legal framework for them was changing.
He told a press conference it was “undeniable” that there is community transmission in the Madrid region, not just isolated outbreaks, at a crucial juncture as winter approaches and respiratory problems increase.
“Action is needed, and today we couldn’t just stand by and do nothing,” Illa said. “It’s very important that this doesn’t spread to the rest of the country.”
Yet Madrid’s conservative regional government opposed those restrictions, saying they were draconian and hurt the economy. Madrid’s regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, said her own, more moderate measures were enough to fight COVID-19.
A Madrid court on Thursday [8/10/20] upheld the regional government’s appeal, saying the national government’s imposition of restrictions violated people’s fundamental liberties.
Between Madrid and Manchester one cannot help but notice the looking-glass nature of the two disputes; as the Madrid regional authorities are politically conservative in opposing the national government, while in Greater Manchester the resistance is largely Labour with a sprinkling of local Tory MPs in places like Bury etc.
Today, in England, the Boris Johnson's government has just confronted a similar situation with regard to Manchester as the region's mainly Labour politicians and Mayor's oppose the central government's insistence that a three-tier is imposed. The Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, has been in the forefront mobilising the opposition and demanding more support, but he urges that the people of Manchester to obey the law, and fall-in with the requirements of the government's new severe three-tier restrictions.
Last Saturday in an editorial leader in the Financial Times wrote: 'With events moving at such speed, and Mr Johnson's regional approach coming under strain, a circuit-breaker shutdown across England, too, now seems a question of when, not if.'
The FT editor took the view that if the goverment imposed a 'precautionary break' now, it might 'avert the need for a vastly more damaging indefinate national lock-down' later on.
Despite this, it now looks like the governmant is taking a chance on a regional approach to the problem. Just watch this space!
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3 comments:
You made a great comparison between both stories, I think you are right. I don't like Johnson but I suppose the rate in Manchester is bad. I am sure not so bad like in Madrid...
But is it true that the Court has backed the decision of the local authorities?
Dear Brian, the regional government took the decision from the national government to the justice and it was stopped. But the national government imposed the alarm state (estado de alarma) for a fortnight. It finishes tomorrow evening...
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