Madrid prepares for partial lockdown but vows legal challenge

Police officers speak to people at a checkpoint at Orcasitas station in the Orcasitas neighbourhood in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. Spain’s health minister has pleaded for the third time in four days for tougher measures in the capital. The national government wants to see existing restrictions against the spread of the virus extended to the entire city while regional officials say that time is needed to see if the current limitations have an effect and that drastic measures would further hurt Spain’s economy. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Madrid is set to go into partial lockdown after an order from the Spanish government, but is determined to fight it in the courts.

Measures that ban all non-essential trips in and out of the capital and nine of its suburbs — covering around 4.8 million people — are set to be enacted on Friday evening.