COVID-19

Passengers on a hundred or so flights landed in Spain from Schengen-area countries yesterday, with 225 routes restarting, a low number compared to a normal June. El Prat airport in Barcelona was operating at 5% of capacity, the majority of arrivals there were foreigners who work in Spain and left the country during lockdown. The lifting of the state of alarm, which means that we can move freely across the […]

A day after Spain entered the “new normality” following a prolonged coronavirus deescalation process, a small area in the northeast of the country has taken several steps back due to fresh outbreaks of the virus. The 67,700 residents of three areas in the region of Aragón are back in Phase 2 of the deescalation plan after having moved through a four-stage process out of one of the world’s strictest confinements. […]

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has urged people not to lower their guard as the country’s coronavirus state of emergency came to an end at the weekend and prepared to reopen its borders to European visitors. Speaking on Saturday, Sánchez thanked the nation for its patience, sacrifice and unity over the past 13 weeks, but said there was no room for complacency as the country emerges into “the new normality” of […]

Thousands of domestic tourists are expected to head for the Costas when the national state of emergency is lifted on Sunday. The special status officially ends at midnight tomorrow reinstating freedom of movement throughout Spain and triggering the so-called ‘new normality’. Spain will also lift border controls with EU Member States and the Schengen area on Sunday lifting the quarantine for visitors from these countries.  

Catalan premier Quim Torra says the region has lifted the state of alarm imposed in mid-March by central authorities. The move, which became effective at midnight, means that Catalonia as a whole will spend just 24 hours in Phase 3. Barcelona and its metropolitan area as well as Lleida only entered Phase 3 yesterday morning, while other parts of the northeastern region did so earlier. Regions in Phase 3 have […]

A major poll says that Spain’s main ruling party has won over new voters since the start of the coronavirus crisis. The survey conducted by Spain’s Center for Sociological Research (CIS) says that 31% of Spaniards would vote for the PSOE Socialist Party today, up from 28% in last November’s elections. The poll also says the PSOE, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, have gained an 11% advantage over the […]

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced King Felipe of Spain will lead a ceremony, attended by top EU officials, on July 16 to honour the victims of the COVID-19 pandemic and health workers. Spain is emerging from the three-month lockdown after suffering one the world’s heaviest death tolls from the disease caused by coronavirus. Sanchez told parliament the state ceremony would honour “the compatriots who lost their lives,” as well […]

Six Spanish provinces registered more than twice as many deaths during the coronavirus pandemic as during a regular year, new figures show. Excess fatalities between early March and early June were highest in Segovia (+147%), Madrid (+122%), Guadalajara (+115%), Ciudad Real (+112%), Soria and Albacete (+103%). In these six territories alone, there were 20,542 more deaths than the expected count for a normal year. Eight out of 10 (16,000) deaths […]

The government will allocate 2.5 billion euros to support tourism, extending its efforts to protect key parts of the economy. The new credit line for tourism comes a day after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez presented a 3.7 billion-euro stimulus package for the automotive industry. The two sectors account for about 22% of Spanish gross domestic product. Spain’s government is pumping in aid amid forecasts from the central bank that the […]