BARCELONA – Spain’s Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday that a strict stay-at-home lockdown order the Spanish government issued under a state of emergency during the first wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) last year was unconstitutional.
The court said provisions ordering the population off the streets except for shorts shopping trips, unavoidable work commutes, and other essential business violated Spain’s Constitution.
The court issued a brief statement that described the ruling as a split decision. State broadcaster TVE reported that six magistrates were in favor and five against.
According to TVE, the court ruled that limitations on movement violated citizens’ basic rights and the state of emergency was a constitutionally insufficient mechanism to do that. The six magistrates said a state of exception, which allows the government to suspend basic rights, would have been necessary.(AP)
