Spanish president to seek state of alarm extension until May 9

Spanish president Pedro Sánchez announced on Saturday evening that he would be asking Congress to approve another 15-day extension of the state of alarm until May 9 to deal with the ongoing Covid-19 public health crisis that has caused over 20,000 deaths according to the latest Spanish ministry of health figures.

While Sánchez celebrated the "progress" that has been made in terms of slowing down the rate of infection, he warned that lockdown should not be loosened too soon so as to not allow the virus to take hold again.

The Spanish president did, however, state that he is open to relaxing confinement rules concerning minors starting on April 27, which is when this third lockdown extension would begin if passed by Spain's lower chamber on April 22, but clarified that exactly how this measure would be implemented was yet to be determined and said it would be discussed with other political forces as well as during Sunday's meeting with regional presidents.

The president also specified that lockdown would be eased gradually starting in May, once it is "absolutely clear" that the Spanish health system is prepared, while suggesting that this may not be carried out the same way throughout Spain.

"When we declared the state of alarm, providing the country with a homogenous response benefitted Spain as a whole. Relaxing lockdown rules will be the same in terms of key aspects, but perhaps not others," he said.

Pedro Sánchez used his speech as an opportunity to call for unity in dealing with the health crisis and asked all political forces in Spain to back his proposed reconstruction agreement – a new Moncloa Pact of sorts – for the country that he had already spoken of on previous occasions.

But beyond unity within Spain, Sánchez appealed to European solidarity as well: "Europe cannot commit the same mistakes as the past."