Brits are facing holiday uncertainty as Spanish coronavirus cases surge ahead of the country’s fast approaching tourism season.
Spain has the world’s fifth highest total of cases – with more than 1,622 infections and 35 deaths.
The capital Madrid is taking drastic measures to prevent it from spreading by closing all schools and universities and disinfecting public transport every day.
Even though the tourist season is fast approaching the government of Catalonia – which includes the popular destination of Barcelona – has said they will bring in similar measures if necessary.
The capital Madrid is taking drastic measures to prevent it from spreading by closing all schools and universities and disinfecting public transport every day. Pictured are shoppers stocking up on supplies in a supermarket in Madrid today
Spain has the world’s fifth highest total of cases – with more than 1,622 infections and 35 deaths. Pictured: empty shelves in a Spanish supermarket today
Jorge Marichal, president of the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Apartments, told The Local that the tourism industry has already suffered ‘significant cancellations’.
Reservations have fallen by 20 to 30 per cent, he added.
Barcelona’s Champions League last-16 second leg match with Napoli scheduled for March 18 will take place without spectators due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus, a club spokesman said on Tuesday.
The match will take place at Camp Nou after a 1-1 draw in Napoli, but no supporters will be allowed to enter the stadium.
The Spanish Health Ministry had said sport fixtures expected to draw crowds from zones designated as high-risk for coronavirus, such as northern Italy, would be played with nobody watching.
A pedestrian walks along an empty street in the old village of Haro, northern Spain today
Almost empty shelves are seen inside a supermarket in central Madrid, Spain today
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (centre) sitting next to Health Minister Salvador Illa (left) and the Director of Spain’s Center for Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies (CCAES), Fernando Simon (right), during an inter-ministerial committee briefing on the COVID-19 disease today
Spanish parliament’s lower house suspended all activities for at least a week after lawmaker Javier Ortega Smith’s party Vox revealed he had been diagnosed with coronavirus, El Pais reported.
It comes after the last Brits who were quarantined at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace Hotel in Tenerife were finally allowed to leave today after Italian tourists tested positive for the virus there.
A British dad tested positive in Majorca last month. The 46-year-old patient caught the killer bug in France but only developed symptoms on return to his Palma home on the Spanish island.
Some of the last guests leave the locked down H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel after getting the all clear in La Caleta on the Canary island of Tenerife
The final Brits who were quarantined at the H10 Costa Adeje Palace Hotel in Tenerife were finally allowed to leave today after Italian tourists tested positive for the virus there
A woman does the shopping at a supermarket with empty shelves in Madrid today. Cases in the capital have surged in recent days
Spain has seen a rapid increase in infections, with cases jumping from 589 on Sunday to 1,204 on Monday.
Currently the case total stands at 1,622 – five times as many as Britain.
Spain’s government has expressed concern for the tourism industry however the Foreign Office has not yet warned against travel there.
It is feared things will deteriorate like they have done in Italy – where all non-essential travel has been advised against. Several major airlines have stopped all flights to the country until April.
Holidaymakers in Spain have been told to follow the advice of local authorities and comply with screening measures.
So far the movement of tourists has not been restricted apart from the quarantine at the hotel in Tenerife and the cancellation of flights to and from Italy for two weeks.
The worst affected areas are the Costa Brava, Costa Blanca, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands and Madrid.
Members of the Red Cross show basic hygiene measures to help people protect themselves from coronavirus epidemic in Guadarrama, Madrid, Spain
Coronavirus stockpiling has led to supermarkets in some parts of Madrid being stripped by panic buyers (pictured)
Easter and summer bookings in Costa Blanca hotels are reportedly down by about 10 per cent on this time last year.
Coronavirus stockpiling has led to supermarkets in some parts of Madrid being stripped by panic buyers.
The Spanish government is expected to announce more measures aimed at containing the spread of the virus.