Planes fly over a square during an event to celebrate the national day of Spain in Madrid
MADRID, Oct 13 (NNN-Xinhua) — King Felipe VI of Spain on Monday presided over an austere National Day parade in the Spanish capital, where a 15-day State of Alarm was declared Friday to slow the spread of coronavirus.
King Felipe was accompanied by Queen Letizia and their daughters, as well as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and members of his cabinet.
Held annually on Oct 12, the National Day commemorates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s first arrival in the Americas.
Safety concerns saw Monday’s celebration limited to raising the flag and a salute to the fallen, along with a brief military parade and the traditional flypast.
The State of Alarm is applied to towns of over 100,000 inhabitants where the number of new COVID-19 cases exceeds over 500 per 100,000 people; over ten percent of PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests give positive results; and over 35 percent or intensive care beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients.
All non-essential movement in and out of Madrid and nine other cities is now banned.
According to the Spanish Ministry of Health, Madrid on Friday averaged 540.6 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the previous fortnight (almost twice the national average) and almost 40 percent of intensive care beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients.
The imposition of a State of Alarm came after weeks of disagreement between the Spanish central government and the Madrid regional government led by Isabel Diaz Ayuso, who was also present at the National Day event.
Sanchez justified his government’s action during a visit to Portugal on Saturday, where he said he had given priority to saving lives and could not sit with arms crossed given the situation in Madrid.
The region of Madrid accounts for 261,762 of Spain’s 861,112 confirmed coronavirus cases and 9,739 of the total 32,923 deaths. — NNN-AGENCIES
