Coronavirus: Spain imposes state of emergency on Madrid

The Spanish government has ordered a 15-day state of emergency to bring down Covid-19 infection rates in the capital, after a court overturned a partial lockdown imposed a week ago. Madrid and nearby cities will see restrictions enforced by 7,000 police. The capital has been at the centre of a political row, with the centre-right city authorities challenging the Socialist-led government's demands. Cases are down and a state of emergency is unjustified, say city officials. Madrid health minister Enrique Ruiz Escudero insisted that measures already in place were working and that the national government order was 'a measure no Madrileño will understand'.