Spain declares state of emergency for coronavirus

The Spain declared a state of emergency throughout the country for 15 days on Friday, 13, because of the pandemic coronavirus . The measure allows the government to limit the movement of people, but not the individual rights of citizens.

There are currently 4,209 diagnosed cases of Covid-19 in Spain, which is the second country most affected by the disease in Europe after Italy. At least 120 people died.

Earlier, the government had already quarantined 70,000 people in four cities in Catalonia. The Council of Ministers will meet this Saturday, 14, to officially start the state of emergency.

"We are only in the first phase of combating the virus," said Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. “Very tough weeks await us. It is not possible to rule out that we reach 10,000 affected in the next week ”.

According to the newspaper El País , among the measures that will be announced during the state of emergency are limiting the movement or permanence of people or vehicles at certain times and places; order certain goods or determine civil requisitions; intervene in factories or offices and ration the use of services or consumption of essential goods.