- Title: Spain’s Basque and Galician regions go to polls amid localized Covid outbreaks
- Date: 12th July 2020
- Summary: ORDIZIA, SPAIN (JULY 12, 2020) (REUTERS) SIGN READING "COVID-19" AND ASKING TO KEEP SOCIAL DISTANCE, WOMAN WEARING MASK VOTING VARIOUS OF VOTERS QUEUING IN LINE KEEPING SOCIAL DISTANCE IN A FRONTON TENNIS COURT USED AS POLLING STATION WORKER WEARING MASK GIVING MAN DISINFECTANT FOR HANDS, MAN ENTERING POLLING STATION WORKER WEARING MASK GIVING INSTRUCTIONS TO VOTERS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE VOTING AGUSTIN ALONSO WEARING MASK AND VOTING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VOTER AGUSTIN ALONSO, LIVING IN ORDIZIA WHERE THERE WAS AN OUTBREAK OF CORONAVIRUS, SAYING: "Very well organized, everything very good, it seemed that it would be more difficult but no, they have set it up very well. I applaud them."
- Embargoed: 26th July 2020 14:57
- Keywords: COVID-19 Spain coronavirus pandemic regional election
- Location: ORDIZIA & BURELA, SPAIN
- City: ORDIZIA & BURELA, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA001CMI7MMF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Voters in northern Spain protected themselves with face masks and hand sanitizer before voting on Sunday (July 12) as Galicia and the Basque Country held regional elections despite new localized outbreaks of COVID-19.
The extra health measures meant there were long lines outside polling stations for the votes, which were postponed from April due to the pandemic and are the first since one of Europe's strictest lockdown was relaxed.
Bilbao, the Basque region's largest city, increased the number of polling stations by 25% to ensure social distancing.
Turnout at midday was 4.2% higher in Galicia than at the same point during the last election in 2016, while in the Basque Country it fell by 1.3%, election authorities said.
More than 460 people in both regions who recently tested positive for the new coronavirus were barred from voting for the new regional governments, as were people awaiting test results.
Health officials have confirmed at least 161 new COVID-19 cases in the Basque Country and more than 300 in Galicia in the last 24 hours. The fresh clusters have brought local lockdowns in both regions, plus in Catalonia.
The northwestern Spanish region of Galicia imposed restrictions on about 70,000 people last Sunday (July 5) following a COVID-19 outbreak.
People living in A Marina along Spain's northern coast in the province of Lugo were not able to leave the area for five days.
(Production: Vincent West, Guillermo Martinez, Elena Rodriguez) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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