Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said in Palma on Wednesday that "we are reaching the beginning of the end of the pandemic", as the vaccination strategy will allow us to neutralise the virus.
Sánchez reiterated that it will be the Inter-Territorial Council for the National Health System that decides on how Christmas will be. He expressed his hope that agreement can be reached. He defended the current limit of no more than six people for a social gathering, as this is what health experts recommend. There is still a need, he stressed, for the curve to be flattened and to arrive at a 14-day cumulative incidence of 25 per 100,000 inhabitants. At present, this is just below 400. "If we relax, the infections will increase."
The prime minister insisted that the second state of alarm is proving to be effective, adding that it is regional governments which must decide on restrictions.
Speaking at the press conference with Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte, following the Spain-Italy summit, Sánchez added that there is a need to strengthen ties between all countries in response to the pandemic. Spain and Italy, he said, have suffered especially because of the loss of tourism.
On immigration, the prime minister emphasised that a European Union debate is necessary. The problem, he believed, is not border control but the "mafias" who traffic human beings and endanger thousands of lives.