Madrid court rejects partial lockdown of capital, surrounding cities

Madrid’s top regional court on Thursday rejected a partial lockdown imposed on the capital and nine surrounding towns to stymie the spread of coronavirus infections.

In a statement, the court said it the lockdown “impacted on the rights and fundamental freedoms” of the 4.5m people affected by the closure, which took force on Friday night.

Residents have been barred from leaving city limits except for work, school or medical reasons. The infection rate has soared to more than 700 cases per 100,000 people, compared with just 300 per 100,000 in the rest of the country, which is in itself the highest rate in the EU.

The regional judges said the health ministry did not have the right to impose restrictions because responsibility for public health matters lies with Spain’s 17 autonomous regions.

They added that the order constituted “an infringement by the public authorities on the citizens’ fundamental rights without legal authorisation”.

Although Madrid’s regional leaders agreed to implement the restrictions, they expressed strong opposition to the move and filed their own challenge at Spain’s National Court, which is still pending.