By , MADRID (Reuters) - Britain made a mistake when it decided at the weekend to slap a quarantine on people traveling from Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday, saying much of the Mediterranean country had a lower coronavirus infection rate than the UK.Sanchez was speaking just after Britain dealt a new blow to any hopes of reviving Spain’s tourism by extending guidance advising against all non-essential travel, which already applied to mainland Spain, to include the Balearic and Canary Islands.“The error, in my judgement, and hence the lack of alignment of the United...…By , MADRID (Reuters) - Britain made a mistake when it decided at the weekend to slap a quarantine on people traveling from Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday, saying much of the Mediterranean country had a lower coronavirus infection rate than the UK.Sanchez was speaking just after Britain dealt a new blow to any hopes of reviving Spain’s tourism by extending guidance advising against all non-essential travel, which already applied to mainland Spain, to include the Balearic and Canary Islands.“The error, in my judgement, and hence the lack of alignment of the United...WW…

By , MADRID (Reuters) - Spain’s King Felipe was greeted by hundreds of chanting protesters during a visit to Catalonia on Monday as pressure mounted on him in Madrid to respond to corruption allegations swirling around his father, former king Juan Carlos.While the demonstrators squared off with police and shouted “We don’t have a king” as Felipe and Queen Letizia visited a monastery near Tarragona, ministers are demanding action amid calls for a parliamentary investigation.In June, Spain’s Supreme Court opened an investigation into Juan Carlos’ involvement with a high-speed rail contract in...…By , MADRID (Reuters) - Spain’s King Felipe was greeted by hundreds of chanting protesters during a visit to Catalonia on Monday as pressure mounted on him in Madrid to respond to corruption allegations swirling around his father, former king Juan Carlos.While the demonstrators squared off with police and shouted “We don’t have a king” as Felipe and Queen Letizia visited a monastery near Tarragona, ministers are demanding action amid calls for a parliamentary investigation.In June, Spain’s Supreme Court opened an investigation into Juan Carlos’ involvement with a high-speed rail contract in...WW…

By , MADRID (Reuters) - Spain’s public prosecutor is investigating more than 200 cases of potential criminal mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic at nursing homes, where the virus spread almost unchecked during the devastating first wave.Angel Juarez, whose 95-year old mother Leonor died from the virus at a Barcelona care home, sued the regional health department for its mismanagement of care homes.“It’s not about political beliefs, everything failed. It is a matter of justice, they died an undignified death,” he said.“We want to shine a light on the negligence and clarify who was...…By , MADRID (Reuters) - Spain’s public prosecutor is investigating more than 200 cases of potential criminal mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic at nursing homes, where the virus spread almost unchecked during the devastating first wave.Angel Juarez, whose 95-year old mother Leonor died from the virus at a Barcelona care home, sued the regional health department for its mismanagement of care homes.“It’s not about political beliefs, everything failed. It is a matter of justice, they died an undignified death,” he said.“We want to shine a light on the negligence and clarify who was...WW…

By , MADRID (Reuters) - The coronavirus crisis has pulverised Spain’s economy, triggering its worst recession since the civil war, with collapsed tourism numbers boding ill for hopes of a swift rebound.Hit by one of Europe’s worst outbreaks and strictest lockdowns, the economy came to a virtual halt in March and remained paralysed until the end of June.It shrank 18.5% in the second quarter, a drop so harsh it wiped out all the recovery achieved since the 2008 global financial crisis, figures from the National Statistics Institute showed on Friday.“It’s a war economy,” said one Mallorca...…By , MADRID (Reuters) - The coronavirus crisis has pulverised Spain’s economy, triggering its worst recession since the civil war, with collapsed tourism numbers boding ill for hopes of a swift rebound.Hit by one of Europe’s worst outbreaks and strictest lockdowns, the economy came to a virtual halt in March and remained paralysed until the end of June.It shrank 18.5% in the second quarter, a drop so harsh it wiped out all the recovery achieved since the 2008 global financial crisis, figures from the National Statistics Institute showed on Friday.“It’s a war economy,” said one Mallorca...WW…

By , MADRID (Reuters) - Major Spanish regions shut shops, bars and restaurants, car plants ground to a halt and Easter parades were canceled as Spain prepared to enter a 15-day state of emergency on Friday, in a sharp escalation of its fight against the coronavirus.Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the number of cases could top 10,000 by next week - more than double the current level - and asked citizens to play their part.“Heroism is also washing your hands and staying home,” Sanchez said in a televised address to the nation on Friday.Spain has the second-highest number of coronavirus...…By , MADRID (Reuters) - Major Spanish regions shut shops, bars and restaurants, car plants ground to a halt and Easter parades were canceled as Spain prepared to enter a 15-day state of emergency on Friday, in a sharp escalation of its fight against the coronavirus.Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the number of cases could top 10,000 by next week - more than double the current level - and asked citizens to play their part.“Heroism is also washing your hands and staying home,” Sanchez said in a televised address to the nation on Friday.Spain has the second-highest number of coronavirus...WW…

By MADRID (Reuters) - Preliminary results from a nationwide coronavirus antibody study showed on Wednesday that about 5% of the overall Spanish population had contracted the novel virus - about 10 times more than the tally of diagnosed cases suggests.The results point to 2.3 million of Spain’s 45 million population being affected by the virus, if without symptoms in many cases, considerably more than the official count of under 230,000 cases.Still, the results, which showed a higher prevalence in the central regions of Spain, validated the government’s strategy of phasing out one of...…By MADRID (Reuters) - Preliminary results from a nationwide coronavirus antibody study showed on Wednesday that about 5% of the overall Spanish population had contracted the novel virus - about 10 times more than the tally of diagnosed cases suggests.The results point to 2.3 million of Spain’s 45 million population being affected by the virus, if without symptoms in many cases, considerably more than the official count of under 230,000 cases.Still, the results, which showed a higher prevalence in the central regions of Spain, validated the government’s strategy of phasing out one of...WW…