Isha Sesay
OVER 500 people in Mallorca have attended a protest against the new coronavirus restrictions.
The demonstration, scheduled to take place this morning in front of the Consolat de Mar, had been banned by the Balearic government.
The Department of Health said the protest ‘posed extreme risk to health’ given the surge of COVID-19 infections on the island.
However, locals, most who work in the restaurant sector, defied this firm instruction to not attend and instead socially distanced themselves outside of the building.
Holding signs that read ‘basta ya’, which translates to ‘enough already’, attendees called on the government to ‘put an end to the restrictive measures’ that will come into force this week.
They also demanded the resignation of President Francina Armengol.
From tomorrow, all ‘non-essential’ services have been ordered to close for the next 14 days, meaning that only supermarkets, pharmacies and petrol stations will be open.
Restaurants have also been impacted considerably in recent weeks, first operating under limited hours and then being told to close indefinitely under Level 4 of the tier system.
Meanwhile, Ibiza has been upgraded from Level 3 to 4 after registering more than 100 new cases in 24 hours.
Under this level, all restaurants and bars must now close for a minimum of two weeks.
It comes as hospitals in Mallorca are reportedly reaching breaking point due to the number of COVID-19 cases skyrocketing.
Yesterday, the island surpassed its record for its number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care.
At present there are 49 people in the ICU, surpassing the 33 being treated in April of last year.
According to the Balearic government, Son Espases, Mallorca’s reference hospital, also has only five available beds to treat adults.
Government spokesperson Pilar Costa said: “Over the weekend, the pressure on healthcare has increased, both in hospitalisation and in critical care units.”
