Spain likely to extend lockdown after PM musters opposition support

MADRID: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was likely to secure enough parliamentary votes on Wednesday to extend a state of emergency for two more weeks as the country relaxes a lockdown imposed to control one of the world's worst Coronavirus outbreaks.

The strict lockdown has brought the outbreak under control, with a daily death toll of 244 recorded on Wednesday - far below peaks of nearly 1,000 registered at the beginning of April. But it has devastated the economy and led to huge job losses. The parliamentary wrangling on how to orchestrate the exit from the lockdown underlines the divisive political environment in a country that has faced four national elections in four years and where the government must battle for any backing.

“Lifting the state of emergency would be a total, unpardonable mistake,” Sanchez said in a parliamentary speech on Wednesday, adding that the billions in state aid to help businesses and individuals hit by the lockdown were released thanks to the emergency decree.

Sanchez's weak coalition government has secured the support of the regional Basque nationalist party PNV, in addition to the centre-right Ciudadanos party, which said it would back an extension.

This guarantees enough votes to approve the decree despite losing the support of the opposition conservatives, the People's Party (PP).

The state of emergency, which expires on Saturday, gives the government powers to control people's movement.