COVID-19

Spain aims to reopen borders to visitors around the end of June as the coronavirus lockdown fully unwinds. Madrid surprised its European partners last week by imposing a two-week quarantine on all overseas travellers and effectively keeping borders closed, saying that it was needed to avoid importing a second wave of the COVID-19 disease. But the move was meant to be temporary and Transport Minister Jose Luis Abalos said it […]

The health ministry said Spain’s daily death toll from the coronavirus fell below 100 yesterday for the first time in two months, as some parts of the country prepared for a further loosening of lockdown measures. Total deaths from the virus rose by 87 to 27,650, while the number of cases edged up to 231,350 from 230,698. Spain introduced one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns on March 14 as the population […]

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez made his weekly televised address yesterday and said he would be requesting a last extension to the state of alarm, this time for a month. He also said that the deescalation process could be completed by half of the country by the beginning of summer. The PM the testing being carried out among the Spanish population to determine how many people have been infected by the […]

The central government has confirmed the region of Madrid and the city of Barcelona will be able to ease some confinement measures, but will not move to Phase 1 of the coronavirus deescalation plan. The entire region of Valencia has been approved for Phase 1 according to media reports here in Spain. A few areas within the region moved up from Phase 0 on May 11, but most of the […]

Spain’s regional education chiefs say they have no plans to reopen public early education classrooms, for children up to six years of age, before the end of this academic year. The move rejects a proposal made two weeks ago by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, of the Socialist Party (PSOE), suggesting that parts of Spain moving into Phase 2 of the coronavirus deescalation plan could open up their classrooms for young […]

Spain registered its lowest daily number of coronavirus deaths yesterday since mid-March as half the population prepared for an easing of one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns, although not yet for Madrid and Barcelona. Emergency Health Chief Fernando Simon said the daily death toll of 143, down from 179 on Saturday, was the lowest since March 18. Just over half of Spain’s 47 million people progress to Phase 1 of the […]

The daily death toll from the coronavirus here fell to its second lowest since mid-March yesterday, as half the country prepares to move to the next phase of an exit from one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns. Spain began to loosen its lockdown last week, but Phase 1 will include a considerable easing of measures that will allow people to move around their province as well as attend concerts and go […]

Madrid will not enter ‘phase 1’ of de-escalation from the coronavirus lockdown this Monday. The Ministry of Health believes the capital’s system for conducting COVID-19 tests in health centres needs improvement before the city is ready to ease restrictions. The decision comes after Madrid’s director general of Public Health, Yolanda Fuentes, resigned after she refused to sign a phase change proposal, fearing the region was not ready for de-escalation. The […]