The High Court of Catalonia (TSJC) rejected again on Monday the latest proposal of the Catalan government regarding curfew, which will continue to affect only 19 municipalities until August 27th. There is still no curfew in Barcelona.
The Catalan government suffered its second consecutive setback, after last Thursday the Catalan high court allowed the closure to be extended only in 19 municipalities, those with the highest incidence. The Generalitat intended to extend curfew in 43 other municipalities, including large cities such as L'Hospitalet, Terrassa and Badalona.
Faced with this setback, the Catalan government presented a new proposal last Friday: to apply curfew in those municipalities with over 20,000 inhabitants and an accumulated incidence over 125 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over seven days.
This time it did not work due to the measure being "unnecessary" and "disproportionate". But the previous proposal did not please the High Court of Catalonia either because it was poorly "justified". At that time, the Catalan government called for early morning curfew in municipalities with more than 5,000 inhabitants and an AI7 over 125 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. A curfew which, according to the courts, was meant to control public order, not stopping the fifth wave of the pandemic.
The curfew was lifted in Barcelona while the Gràcia festivities were still ongoing. The curfew had to be implemented to avoid the repetition of scenes seen over the weekend (massive gatherings of people who did not respect sanitary measures). Now, the Sants festivities are coming, and no curfew in force.
The Catalan government must still be upset by the ruling of the Catalan High Court. Last week the government was already very annoyed with the court's decision: "Once again, the judges are playing the role of epidemiologists". The minister of the Presidency, Laura Vilagrà, had announced that the Catalan government would submit an alternative proposal. And it has done so, but without success.
The other restrictions, still in force
Some experts were also in favour of maintaining restrictions, such as physicist Àlex Arenas. The professor at Rovira i Virgili University predicted a "sixth wave" if the curfew is lifted in most of the country. However, epidemiological data is improving day by day and contagion indicators continue to show a downward trend.
Neither last week's decision by the High Court of Catalonia nor Monday's decision, affects the other restrictions, which remain in force throughout the country. The prohibition of meetings of over ten people or the limitation of establishment’s opening hours until 00.30 AM are some of these measures.
Main image: an empty Barcelona street during lockdown