Catalan authorities order home confinement in Lleida after court rejection

BARCELONA, July 14 (Reuters) - Spain's Catalonia approved a resolution on Tuesday to place the residents of the city of Lleida and seven nearby towns under home confinement to stem a surge in coronavirus infections, after a judge earlier ruled that such a measure was unlawful.

The confinement will come into force on Wednesday and last for 15 days, Catalan regional government spokeswoman Meritxell Budo told reporters.

Some 160,000 people within the affected area must return to home confinement except for work and other specific activities, less than a month after the country's national lockdown was lifted. (Reporting by Joan Faus and Clara-Laeila Laudette; editing by Nathan Allen and Andrei Khalip)