The Spanish Constitutional Court did not give permission to hold rallies in connection with March 8 in Madrid, which was sought by the trade unions, the court reported, RIA Novosti reports.
Last week, the authorities banned all mass rallies and events in the Autonomous Community of Madrid in connection with International Women’s Day due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The organizers challenged this ruling in the Madrid High Court, but he sided with the authorities. The country’s two largest trade unions, the Working Commissions (CCOO) and the General Union of Workers (UGT), have filed complaints with the Constitutional Court.
The court accepted them for consideration, but did not give permission to hold the actions, the press service said. “To refuse to suspend the verdict of the above-named court (the High Court of Madrid – ed.) That the trade unions requested so that today they can hold a rally on the Cibeles Square in Madrid,” the court said, citing the need to hear the opposite side of the conflict.
The organizers insist on holding a general action on Monday evening – they urge to hang feminist symbols on balconies, windows and doors and go out on balconies at 20.00.
Madrid has become the only Spanish region where rallies have been banned, and the authorities of other autonomous communities are urging to prevent crowds.
The COVID-19 infection rate in Madrid remains one of the highest in the country: on Friday, March 5, it was 245 per hundred thousand of the population in two weeks, while in Spain this indicator averaged 149. For 7 days in the capital region, 7.4 thousand new cases of the disease were detected, 102 people died.
Last year, the thousands-strong rally on March 8 took place at the very beginning of the epidemic, a few days before the introduction of high alert and strict quarantine, but it was not officially confirmed that it became one of the main reasons for the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the region … The rally in 2020 was attended by representatives of the Spanish and Madrid authorities, some of them fell ill as a result.