Balearic Islands want to enforce 10pm curfew after Spain’s state of alarm ends in May

THE Balearic government want to keep the 10pm curfew in place after the nationwide state of alarm ends on May 9.

Speaking in parliament yesterday, president Francina Armengol said she needed answers from the central government to ensure that she could enforce the curfew across the Balearics legally.

“The curfew is one of the most important tools we have to control the pandemic and for this reason, I demand that the autonomous communities are able to enforce it,” said Armengol.

The president explained that she didn’t just want to ‘avoid coronavirus infections and deaths’ by using this, but to also ‘guarantee the summer tourist season’.

Spain’s second state of alarm was introduced on October 29 and allowed for a series of measures to be introduced as COVID-19 cases spiked upwards.

This meant that the 17 autonomous communities held extra powers to impose restrictions such as the night-time curfew, limitations on commercial premises and perimeter closures.

Over the past six months, this has allowed the Balearic government to close and define the opening hours of bars and restaurants, block entry into the islands and limit social interactions to six people living under the same roof, amongst others.

Meanwhile, the Balearic government has come under fire for blocking the anti-corruption investigation into the controversial claim that six senior officials were among the first to be vaccinated in the region.

Yesterday, a request was made by the Office for the Fight against Corruption in the Balearic Islands (OAIB) for a list of the 130,000 people already vaccinated.

This list served to confirm that the six officials received the jab as well as to see if anyone else working for the government was, including the president.

However, the Balearic government blocked this request on the grounds that it ‘endangered the European regulations on data protection’.

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