MADRID (AP) — The conservative chief of Spain’s capital region turned Madrid this year into a European exception, where bars, restaurants, museums and concert halls remained open even as contagion rates strained hospitals. Hailed as a flag-bearer of Spain’s anti-lockdown movement, Madrid President Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s resistance to sweeping closures has pitched the 42-year-old conservative against Spain’s left-wing ruling coalition. The political strife has escalated in the run-up to a regional election on May 4. The pandemic has helped transform Díaz Ayuso from an inexperienced politician who raised eyebrows with off-the-cuff comments in front of cameras to a defiant figure and scourge of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
