Hundreds of protesters gathered on Sunday, September 27, in Madrid's working-class neighbourhood of Vallecas to demand a different COVID response from regional government. Madrid authorities ordered on Monday, September 21, mobility restrictions in areas where a total of 850,000 people live, sparking discrimination complaints and protests.

Madrid regional government said they chose those areas because COVID-19 transmission levels there exceeded 1,000 per 100,000 people.

But some residents complained that the measures, which allow people to go to work or school, failed to address the problem of an overcrowded transport system where the virus could spread fast.

Madrid extended a partial lockdown on Friday, September 25, in several dozen districts with high infection rates, rejecting national government recommendations for a city-wide lockdown as cases continue to surge in the capital.

Spain's health minister urged authorities in Madrid on Saturday, September 26, to tighten restrictions in the coronavirus hotspot, warning that the capital's residents and surrounding regions were at "serious risk" without tougher curbs (Source: Reuters)