Year: 2020

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has urged political parties to work together towards national reconstruction in the same spirit that recently yielded the landmark EU coronavirus recovery fund. Holding up as an example the EU agreement that will grant Spain €140 billion for the Covid-19 recovery effort the leader of the Socialist Party (PSOE) said if the different governments had managed to reach an agreement in Europe, Spain should be able […]

Spain's Ministry of Health has announced the highest number of daily new COVID-19 infections since May 1 as 1,153 cases were announced in today's statistics. It is the highest number since May 1, when 1,175 daily new cases were recorded – and when were still a week away from easing lockdown. The milestone 1,000 has also been named by health officials as a 'limit' in Spain's post-lockdown new normality before […]

Spain’s airport operator Aena says it does not expect European air traffic to recover to pre-Covid levels of activity until 2024, as the state-owned company released its first half year results. Aena also estimated that passenger traffic for 2020 would decrease between 57% and 67% overall, and reported a dive in traffic of 97.8% compared to the same six-month period last year.

One in every five bars and restaurants in the Valencian Community are predicted to shut this year – or 7,000 from an estimated 35,000 total. The Conhostur hospitality and tourism confederation estimated that 160,000 jobs depend on these sectors, and that up to 60,000 positions will be lost due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Manuel Espinar, president of the Valencian confederation, said only 80% of businesses in his network have […]

The premier of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has announced that face masks will be mandatory in all public spaces in the region, even when social distancing measures can be respected. The new rule, which has already been introduced in all of Spain’s 17 regions with the exception of the Canary Islands, comes into effect tomorrow. Under the Madrid plan, social gatherings will be limited to 10 people and night time […]

Catalonia has banned informal outdoor parties popular with youngsters, saying anyone taking part will be fined between 3,000 and 15,000 euros, in the latest step to curb the spread of coronavirus. The measure was announced a day after Catalan leader Quim Torra said those participating in the “botellon,” parties were being irresponsible. The regional government's Meritxell Budo said for public health reasons, the shared consumption of alcoholic beverages on the […]

Hotels across Spain have offered to fund COVID-19 tests for tourists before returning to their country of origin. The CEHAT hotel confederation, representing 15,000 businesses and 1,800,000 tourism-related establishments, hoped the offer could reverse decisions by European governments to place restrictions on Spain-bound tourists. A statement published on Monday said the UK in particular was 'unjustified' in imposing a 14-day quarantine on tourists returning from Spain. The statement named the […]