COVID-19

Spain has recorded 19,382 new COVID-19 infections by PCR since last Friday. In the last 24 hours, the figure stands at 2,060 – a figure likely to be inflated as new data comes in over the next few days. A total of 34 new deaths have been recorded. Hospital admissions over the last seven days are at 1,294 – or 0.032% of total new cases Spain's director of health emergencies, […]

The Catalan government has announced that all brothels are to be closed over concerns that prostitution could further contribute to Covid-19 outbreaks. The region of Castilla-La Mancha says it is also closing brothels. Spain’s Minister for Equality, Irene Montero, has sent a letter to all regional governments asking them to take exceptional measures against prostitution businesses. Brothels, Montero said, could cause ‘a potential rise of positive cases that are difficult […]

A Spanish judge has overturned a ban on smoking in public spaces in the Madrid region, arguing it contravenes fundamental rights. The Spanish government and the leaders of Spain’s 17 autonomous regions have agreed to ban smoking in outdoor public places when it is not possible to comply with the 2-meter social distancing rule. But a judge in Madrid says that a regional government cannot limit fundamental rights “without first […]

The government of the Madrid region, which currently accounts for a third of the new coronavirus infections in Spain, has recommended that inhabitants do not leave their homes in the worst-affected areas, as well as advising that family meetings be restricted. That was according to the deputy regional health chief Antonio Zapatero, who was referring to the Carabanchel, Usera and Vallecas districts, which have the highest contagion rates in the […]

Two pubs have been ordered to close by Policía Local in Alicante city after they were caught still open past permitted opening times. Alicante has deployed a special police unit to police new coronavirus restrictions, including last week's nationwide rules for bars and clubs to shut at 1am and no allow any new customers after midnight. Police have powers to fine bars according to the severity of the infraction – […]

The rise in coronavirus infections that Spain has been seeing in recent weeks has prompted a spike in the number of Covid-19-related deaths due to the serious pneumonia that the virus causes. According to data from the Health Ministry, 131 people with coronavirus have died in the last seven days, twice that which the ministry released on Tuesday, and 11 times more than the 12 deaths that were reported in […]

The latest figures released by the Spanish Health Ministry for the number of people who have tested positive for Coronavirus (Covid-19) is now 377,906. This is an overall increase of 7,039 against the figure released on Wednesday, with the ministry saying that 3,349 of these infections occurred in the previous 24 hours. New figures show that 1,407 people have required hospital treatment in the past 7 days, with 90 in […]

The Albacete town of Villamalea, population 4,000, has returned to lockdown for two weeks after 99 people tested COVID-19-positive in the past few weeks. A local judge ordered the confinement following two outbreaks: one among a family-run mushroom farming business; the other from an Altea stag night. A medical report that carried measures to close down nightclubs last week said the outbreak began with 17 positives at the mushroom farming […]

Ministers for health and education have planned a meeting for next Thursday the 27th to discuss strategy before children in Spain go back to school. Classes begin on different dates in different regions, with some of the earliest new terms starting on Friday the 4th of September. The ministries will design a full procedure which will take on board feedback from the regional governments in order to prevent contagion in […]