The Spanish government vowed on Sunday it would not give in to pressure over its decision to put the country’s economy into “hibernation” to fight the spread of coronavirus, despite warnings from business that the move risked a profound social and economic crisis.
Spain’s biggest employers’ federation has complained that the government’s decision to ban all non-essential work for two weeks risks “the massive destruction” of jobs and businesses “in a definitive manner”.
But the leftwing coalition — under pressure over a mounting death toll that claimed a record 838 lives in the 24 hours to Sunday morning — said the move was necessary to bring the spread of the virus under check.
It says the ban on non-essential work — which does not include teleworking — will bolster the effectiveness of the country’s two-week-old lockdown, which now appears to be slowing the advance of the virus.
Spain’s accumulated total of confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 9 per cent on the previous day to 78,797 — a much lower proportional increase than the rates of 25 per cent or more earlier this month. The absolute number of new cases in Madrid and Catalonia, the worst hit two regions of the country so far, are less than half the level of five days ago.
“We are not going to accept pressure of any type to alter or change this lockdown,” Yolanda Díaz, labour minister, said on Sunday. “This measure is intended to make the activity on weekdays that of a Sunday. Tomorrow all workers should stay at home.”
Speaking after the cabinet formally took the decision to impose the work ban, she added that the country’s economy would now “enter into a kind of hibernation”.
Workers prepare to build a field hospital in Barcelona. © JJ GuillenEPA/Shutterstock
Ms Díaz said employers would still have to pay their workers’ salaries, but that workers would have to make up any forfeited hours by December 31, while arguing that the ban on “non-essential” work would in effect be only eight days long because of the planned Easter holidays next month.
The government also says that sectors such as textile manufacturing, alcohol distillation and the car and aeronautical industries are shifting their operations to produce medical supplies and will continue working in such instances.
But Spain’s biggest employers’ groups have warned that the move will “produce an enormous impact without precedents in the Spanish economy”.
The Confederation of Employers and Industries of Spain, which represents 2m companies and self-employed entrepreneurs, and the Spanish Confederation of Small and Medium Businesses said in a late-night statement on Saturday that the halt could “take us to a deeper economic crisis that could ultimately become a social crisis”.
They added that Spanish businesses “urgently needed to know the list of activities that are considered essential” and called for accompanying measures “that do not provoke the massive destruction of the fabric of business and of employment in a definitive manner”.
Pimec, Catalonia’s small business confederation, said it was “indignant” at the “improvised” measure. The decree imposing Spain’s lockdown describes the sale of food, drink and medicinal products as essential, as well as the availability of dry cleaners, laundromats, newspaper booths and tobacco shops, internet and telecoms services, and other products and services.
Source: Economy - ft.com
