Today, the Spanish Parliament voted to extend the state of emergency until June 21, the last time the measure introduced at the request of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez due to the fight against the coronavirus pandemic is being extended.
Deputies approved the extension with 177 votes in favor, 155 against and 18 abstentions.
Sanchez, who does not have an absolute majority in parliament, secured the votes of several smaller parties to pass the extension, despite sharp criticism from the right-wing opposition.
A state of emergency was imposed on March 14 when the epidemic appeared in Spain and was extended five times to allow for the implementation of restrictive measures, among the strictest in the world, which were later eased in stages and by region.
Although the pandemic is subsiding, in Spain the government considers it important to maintain a state of emergency to control the easing of measures that should be gradually lifted by the end of June, beginning of July, in a country where more than 27.000 people have died from the coronavirus.
The measure will be lifted on June 21 and Sánchez hopes that freedom of movement will be restored in the country by July 1, when he expects to open the borders to foreign tourists.
The prime minister said the worst part of the pandemic was over, and said he would not seek further extensions.
He said that next week, the government will adopt procedures in case of a resurgence of the epidemic when most of the restrictions are lifted.
The opposition accuses the prime minister of abusing the state of emergency to suspend personal freedoms.
Justifying the strictest isolation measures in the West, Sanchez says it was necessary to stop practically everything to stop the spread of the virus.
"It was terribly difficult but also terribly effective," he said, and pointed out that for two days the Ministry of Health had not recorded a single death.
In Spain, 27.128 people died from the corona virus and a little over 240.000 were infected.
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