The Governing Council of the Canary Islands met this Monday in an extraordinary session after learning of the latest order from the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands and has approved to invalidate some measures of the decree published last Friday, thus assuming the content of that judicial resolution. "From tonight there will be no movement limitation in the Canary Islands", announced the spokesman for the Executive, Julio Pérez, thus ending, at least for the moment, the curfew on the islands.
However, he reiterated the intention of the Canarian Government to file an appeal in cassation before the Supreme Court, which could take a week to resolve. The Court has five days to rule from the time it receives the appeal, but it has not yet been filed. In this regard, Pérez pointed out that the legal services of the Executive are already working on it and explained that the deadline to submit it ends this Thursday.
"Tonight we can go out on the street at any time without time limitation", said Julio Pérez, who also wanted to emphasize that this does not imply that the closure does not apply to restaurants, parks or leisure spaces, nor to the limitation of the number of people who can meet, since that measure was supported by the TSJC.
"Everything remains the same except for the curfew", stressed the Government spokesman. And the other measure that did not receive support from the Court, which is the perimeter closure of the islands that are in alert levels 3 or 4, is currently not being applied in any.
"It's not a party night"
The Government spokesman insisted that the fact that these two measures fall "does not mean that the rest of the contagion control rules that we have in force for more than a year have lost effectiveness". Thus, he recalled that the use of masks, safety distances, compliance with capacity regulations and limitations on activities such as hospitality, restaurants and nightlife are still mandatory.
"Tonight there is no curfew, but tonight is not a party night. It's a night like the previous one. You can go out on the street, but on the street, there is probably nothing to do", stressed Julio Pérez, who also appealed to citizen responsibility.
"If all these legal limitations remain, individual responsibility also remains", he stressed, conveying his concern about the images that have been seen during this weekend in other parts of Spain, with massive night parties in the streets after the curfew was lifted.
"There are no precedents, there is no jurisprudence"
During his appearance after the Governing Council, the spokesman explained that in the next few hours this decision to suspend two of the measures that had been approved last Thursday will be published in the Official Gazette. With this, what they do is abide by the provisions of the TSJC, which on Sunday rejected two of these restrictions and supported only the one that has to do with the limitation of the number of people who can meet -which will continue to be governed by what is established in each alert level- and the limitation of capacity in places of worship.
After learning of that ruling this Sunday, the Canarian Government announced that the restrictions would remain in force until the Supreme Court ruled, since the resolution was not final. However, this Monday they decided to request a clarification of the sentence from the TSJC. "There were legal doubts", said Pérez, who stressed that the Prosecutor's Office also requested it.
Finally, the Court's response has been that such clarification is not appropriate and that the fact that the decree submitted to judicial validation did not receive it, means that it cannot be in force, at least until the Supreme Court says otherwise.
Now, these measures will no longer be applied until that pronouncement arrives, although the first step will be for the Court to admit the appeal in cassation, since it could not even be processed. For this, the cassational interest will have to be justified. "We are in a way studying the application of this law. There are no precedents, there is no jurisprudence", said Pérez, recalling that it was last week when the central Government opened this new avenue of appeal to the Supreme Court.
In the event that they finally do not obtain judicial support for the curfew -or for the perimeter closures of islands if they become necessary again-, the Government spokesman has advanced that they could look for "other measures to complement" those that are in force. In addition, he pointed out that it will also be necessary to "reinforce surveillance", so that the end of the curfew does not lead to other breaches.
Regarding the possibility of requesting from the central Government a specific state of alarm for the Canary Islands, which would continue to cover restrictions that affect fundamental rights, Pérez has stated that for the moment they do not even consider it. "No counselor has raised it or talked about that hypothesis. I don't see it close", he replied.
