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The Mayor of Barcelona has posted an emotional plea to release Spain’s children, including her own, from the nation’s lockdown.
Ada Colau Ballano said the current rules, under which youngsters are banned from leaving their homes, were “unsustainable” and that it was “necessary to speak loudly and clearly” to bring their confinement to an end.
“Wait no more: Free our children!” she declared.
“I write as mayor and mother of two children, ages 9 and 3, who haven’t been out for a month. We have been with two small children at home for more than a month without going out for a single day, which they don’t understand: ‘Mum, if I don’t have the virus I can’t do any harm, why … why can’t I go out? I’m not to blame!’
“Week after week, they fight each other more each day, they have fits of sadness, anger… it is almost impossible to keep a schedule, or an order, or do homework, or anything at all. These children need to get out.”
Europe takes it’s first steps out of Coronavirus lockdown
1/19
People queue at a hardware store during a partial reopening after the Austrian government eased lockdown restrictions
Reuters
2/19
A worker checks the temperature of a customer at the entrance of a supermarket in Itay
Reuters
3/19
Customers hold flowers in front of a DIY store in Graz, Austria, after it re-opened on April 14, 2020, following a “shutdown” in a measure to limit the spread of the new coronavirus
APA/AFP via Getty Images
4/19
People wearing protective face masks and gloves walk in the streets as the Italian government allows the reopening of some shops while a nationwide lockdown continues following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Venice, Italy,
Reuters
5/19
People queue to enter a hardware store during a partial reopening after the Austrian government eased restrictions following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Eisenstadt, Austria
Reuters
6/19
Camilla Cocchi wears a face mask and gloves as she sorts out clothing in her children’s clothes shop after it was allowed to reopen following lockdown measures to contain the spread of Covid-19, in Rome
AP
7/19
A man wearing a face mask shops in a hardware store during a partial reopening after the Austrian government eased restrictions following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Eisenstadt, Austria
Reuters
8/19
“Respect the 2 meters distance” banner is seen at a fish stand as the Italian government allows the reopening of some shops while a nationwide lockdown continues following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Venice, Italy,
Reuters
9/19
Customers wearing face masks push shopping carts in front of a DIY store in Vienna, Austria, after it re-opened on April 14, 2020, following a “shutdown” in a measure to limit the spread of the new coronavirus
APA/AFP via Getty Images
10/19
A worker checks the temperature of a customer at the entrance of a supermarket, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Turin, Italy
Reuters
11/19
Customers line up in front of a DIY store in Graz, Austria
APA/AFP via Getty Images
12/19
Gianfranco Mandas wears a face mask as he sorts out clothing in his children’s clothes shop after it was allowed to opens following restriction measures to contain the spread of Covid-19, in Rome
AP
13/19
Customers wearing face masks push shopping carts in front of a DIY store in Vienna, Austria, after it re-opened on April 14, 2020, following a “shutdown” in a measure to limit the spread of the new coronavirus
APA/AFP via Getty Images
14/19
Customers queue at the Trastevere market, as new restrictions for open-air markets are implemented to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Rome, Italy,
Reuters
15/19
Customers wearing face masks push shopping carts in front of a DIY store in Vienna, Austria, after it re-opened on April 14, 2020, following a “shutdown” in a measure to limit the spread of the new coronavirus
APA/AFP via Getty Images
16/19
A man wears a protective face mask and gloves at the newsstand as the Italian government allows the reopening of some shops while a nationwide lockdown continues following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Venice, Italy
Reuters
17/19
People wearing face masks work in a hardware store during a partial reopening after the Austrian government eased restrictions following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Eisenstadt, Austria
Reuters
18/19
Customers queue at the Trastevere market, as new restrictions for open-air markets are implemented to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Rome, Italy
Reuters
19/19
A general view of the parking area of a hardware store during the partial reopening of shops after the Austrian government loosens its lockdown restrictions during the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Vienna
Reuters
1/19
People queue at a hardware store during a partial reopening after the Austrian government eased lockdown restrictions
Reuters
2/19
A worker checks the temperature of a customer at the entrance of a supermarket in Itay
Reuters
3/19
Customers hold flowers in front of a DIY store in Graz, Austria, after it re-opened on April 14, 2020, following a “shutdown” in a measure to limit the spread of the new coronavirus
APA/AFP via Getty Images
4/19
People wearing protective face masks and gloves walk in the streets as the Italian government allows the reopening of some shops while a nationwide lockdown continues following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Venice, Italy,
Reuters
5/19
People queue to enter a hardware store during a partial reopening after the Austrian government eased restrictions following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Eisenstadt, Austria
Reuters
6/19
Camilla Cocchi wears a face mask and gloves as she sorts out clothing in her children’s clothes shop after it was allowed to reopen following lockdown measures to contain the spread of Covid-19, in Rome
AP
7/19
A man wearing a face mask shops in a hardware store during a partial reopening after the Austrian government eased restrictions following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Eisenstadt, Austria
Reuters
8/19
“Respect the 2 meters distance” banner is seen at a fish stand as the Italian government allows the reopening of some shops while a nationwide lockdown continues following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Venice, Italy,
Reuters
9/19
Customers wearing face masks push shopping carts in front of a DIY store in Vienna, Austria, after it re-opened on April 14, 2020, following a “shutdown” in a measure to limit the spread of the new coronavirus
APA/AFP via Getty Images
10/19
A worker checks the temperature of a customer at the entrance of a supermarket, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Turin, Italy
Reuters
11/19
Customers line up in front of a DIY store in Graz, Austria
APA/AFP via Getty Images
12/19
Gianfranco Mandas wears a face mask as he sorts out clothing in his children’s clothes shop after it was allowed to opens following restriction measures to contain the spread of Covid-19, in Rome
AP
13/19
Customers wearing face masks push shopping carts in front of a DIY store in Vienna, Austria, after it re-opened on April 14, 2020, following a “shutdown” in a measure to limit the spread of the new coronavirus
APA/AFP via Getty Images
14/19
Customers queue at the Trastevere market, as new restrictions for open-air markets are implemented to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Rome, Italy,
Reuters
15/19
Customers wearing face masks push shopping carts in front of a DIY store in Vienna, Austria, after it re-opened on April 14, 2020, following a “shutdown” in a measure to limit the spread of the new coronavirus
APA/AFP via Getty Images
16/19
A man wears a protective face mask and gloves at the newsstand as the Italian government allows the reopening of some shops while a nationwide lockdown continues following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Venice, Italy
Reuters
17/19
People wearing face masks work in a hardware store during a partial reopening after the Austrian government eased restrictions following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Eisenstadt, Austria
Reuters
18/19
Customers queue at the Trastevere market, as new restrictions for open-air markets are implemented to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Rome, Italy
Reuters
19/19
A general view of the parking area of a hardware store during the partial reopening of shops after the Austrian government loosens its lockdown restrictions during the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Vienna
Reuters
Ms Ballano said that adults were allowed to go “for a walk with a dog” and that other “non-essential economic activities” were being permitted under a limited relaxation of Spain’s lockdown implemented earlier this week.
She added: “Why do our children have to keep waiting? We are not idiots.
“We are tired of being told that we are soldiers and this is a war, instead of talking about how to take care of life and take care of each other. Wait no more: Free our children.”
Ms Ballano’s outburst came as at least 11,600 people in Spain were today reported to have died in elderly homes and other social service residences due to coronavirus or with Covid-19-like symptoms.
Meanwhile, in France, around 20 sailors were still in hospital today after being evacuated there following a large outbreak on the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier group. It had been deployed in the Atlantic as part of a Nato exercise.
Meanwhile, Poland today became the latest country to announce plans to relax its lockdown. Its state assets minister Jacek Sasin told a radio station that the first step was likely to see the reopening of forests and parks next week. He said the rules on how many people could enter shops would also be revised.
In Russia, the Kremlin was reported to have postponed the country’s annual Second World War Victory Day parade. The event was due to take place on May 9 on Red Square, Moscow.
Before the pandemic, world leaders including France’s Emmanuel Macron were expected to attend the parade, which was to include 15,000 troops and the latest missile systems.
