The Catalan government ordered this Friday, July 24, the closure of discos and night bars in this region of northeastern Spain to deal with an increase in cases of contamination with the new coronavirus. Regional Civil Protection has also banned concert halls with a dance floor and imposes a midnight curfew on gaming establishments, casinos, bars and restaurants.
Read also: Spain: an area of Catalonia re-confined after a standoff with the justice system
The measure, effective Saturday and for two weeks, was decided when the country recorded 280 new cases of Covid-19 in 24 hours, three times more than two weeks ago. Nearly half of the new cases have been recorded in Catalonia, where the authorities a week ago asked the 4 million inhabitants of the regional capital, Barcelona, to confine themselves except in an emergency.
Barely a month after the lifting of strict confinement, Spain sees an explosion in the number of contaminations with the new coronavirus, which has already killed 28,432 and infected more than 272,000 people. French Prime Minister Jean Castex has also “ strongly recommended ” Friday to the French to “ avoid ” going to Catalonia. The border nevertheless remains open.