Sanchez Declares National Mourning in Spain After Facing Pressure From Opposition Group Ciudadanos

Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, has advanced that alongside the transition into a ‘new normality’, which is set to begin with Phase 1 on Monday May 11, there will also be a public tribute to the victims lost as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

THE government will declare an official mourning period once most of the country begins Phase 1 of the de-escalation, “as soon as the streets return to being busy and official buildings are visited,” announced the Prime Minister on Wednesday.

In the plenary session of Congress which debated the fourth extension of a State of Alarm, Sánchez also advanced that, as soon as the de-escalation ends and the “new normality” begins there will be a public tribute to the victims of the coronavirus.

Therefore, as soon as most of the country is in Phase 1 of the de-escalation, which for the majority of regions will begin on May 11, the government will declare a period of national mourning for all of the deceased.

As Sánchez has assured, the Executive has spent weeks working on a public tribute that was set to be held once Phase 3 of de-escalation was completed – which according to the government’s forecast should happen in the end of June – and has already communicated to King Felipe VI.

Sanchez also dedicated his first words in Congress to the victims of the coronavirus: “In our memory we will always remember the suffering of so many of our compatriots. The memory of the victims will last among us,” he said.

This mourning is a measure they have yielded as a result of the pressure bestowed on them by Ciudadanos who has offered their favourable vote for another extension to the State of Alarm.

The government has also complied with one of the requests issued by the Popular Party, headed by Pablo Casado, who demanded on several occasions that “as a sign of mourning and respect” there should be a period of national mourning.