COVID-19

The regional government of Spain’s Balearic Islands are finalising a resolution that will make face masks mandatory in all public spaces in the archipelago even when social distancing rules can be respected. The measure will come into effect this weekend, according to sources from the regional government. The Balearic Islands is the second region to adopt such a measure after Catalonia introduced the mandatory use of face masks yesterday.

The head of Volkswagen’s Spanish brand SEAT says the country needs to “wake up” and follow other European countries in giving more incentives for electric cars. The comments from interim chairman Carsten Isensee came as SEAT announced a step up in investment to 5 billion euros for the next five years and said it was prepared to build electric cars in Spain, if the government did more to help.

A survey of 2,500 health professionals published by the Institute for Better Healthcare says most health workers did not have the means to face coronavirus when it hit hospitals in Spain. Not only were they exposed to Covid-19 due to the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), they were also not given basic training on how to manage coronavirus patients and to avoid contagion. 71.5% of healthcare workers said that […]

Results from the final stage of a nationwide antibody study have shown some 5 per cent of Spain's population has been exposed to the coronavirus, confirming findings from earlier stages. The study tested nearly 70,000 people across the country three times over the past three months and 5 per cent is far below the rate that would provide the population with so-called herd immunity, which experts place at 60% at […]

The leaders of Spain and Portugal are pressing for the European Union to clinch a deal by the end of this month on a recovery fund to help its 27 member countries weather the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told a joint press conference with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa in Lisbon in Portugal that "It´s crucial that all EU leaders recognise that the […]

Authorities ordered a new lockdown for 200,000 people in Lleida province in northeastern Spain on Saturday due to outbreaks of Covid-19, the first confinement order since the nation's state of emergency was lifted on June 21. Catalan regional president Quim Torra said confinement started at midday and includes the provincial capital of Lleida. It will be enforced by 24 police checkpoints around the Segrià county perimeter, preventing movement in and […]

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says the government will spend 50 billion euros as part of a new set of measures, which includes setting up a fund to boost companies’ solvency, in an attempt to revive the coronavirus-hit economy. The announcement is part of other proposals such as tax reform partly focused on raising taxes on larger companies rather than smaller ones. A government source said they would approve this package […]