The Balearic health minister, Manuela García, said on Thursday that she has asked the regional attorney's office to file an appeal against the Spanish health ministry's order that face masks are obligatory in health centres and hospitals.
The governments in the Balearics and the Basque Country are both seeking a suspension of a measure which, in García's opinion, is not justified.
On Wednesday, Spain's health ministry introduced the measure nationwide by instructing regional authorities to implement it during a period of what the ministry refers to as "coordinated actions" in dealing with the high incidence of respiratory virus cases - mainly flu.
The Balearic health minister argued on Thursday that the order "is not based on any technical criteria". "When you take epidemiological measures, you have to base them on a series of criteria. Wearing a mask is important and recommended, but to force it you have to give reasons."
The minister has criticised developments since an emergency meeting of the Interterritorial Council for the National Health System on Monday. That meeting was called without having previously convened the public health commission or the committee for health alerts and allowed those bodies to evaluate criteria and implement a protocol for measures to be adopted. In addition, García believes that there has been interference with regional competence for health affairs.
While the minister has taken exception to the order, medical associations and unions have welcomed it.