High Court greenlights 1 am to 6 am curfew in Barcelona and 160 other municipalities

Measure will come into effect as soon as decree is published in official gazette

A group of people in Barcelona celebrating the end of the first curfew on May 9, 2021 (by Sílvia Jardí)
A group of people in Barcelona celebrating the end of the first curfew on May 9, 2021 (by Sílvia Jardí) / ACN

ACN | Barcelona

July 16, 2021 12:53 PM

The High Court has given the go-ahead to a 1 am to 6 am curfew in Barcelona and 160 other cities and towns in an effort to contain the spread of Covid-19 following weeks of skyrocketing cases. The decision was announced on Friday at 1 pm.

The measure, which will come into effect in the early hours of Saturday, July 17, after the Catalan government publishes the decree in the official gazette (DOGC), mainly affects municipalities with 5,000 or more residents with a 7-day Covid-19 incidence rate of 400 or more cases per 100,000 inhabitants, although there are some with lower figures that will be affected too as they are surrounded by towns with higher rates.

On Thursday, government spokesperson Patrícia Plaja warned that while the measure will have to be reviewed on a week-by-week basis, it will likely be in place for at least three weeks until the public health situation improves.

With 777.85 infections per 100,000 people in the past two weeks, Catalonia has entered the European Union's highest risk category and is now dark red on the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control's Covid-19 map. 

For more information on how the curfew will be enforced, click here

Check out the 161 municipalities in the interactive map and table below: