Spain

The Spanish government has hinted at a possible reopening to foreign tourism this summer. It comes as a raft of lockdown measures were eased in Madrid and Barcelona on Monday.

Culture Minister Bogdan Gheorghiu has stated on Thursday, in respect to initiating the procedure for classifying the building of the former Apollo factory as a historic monument, that the heritage must be protected "to the benefit of future generations." "Protecting the heritage is one of my mandate's priorities.

Spain Minister of Transport, Jos Luis balos Meco, expects a heated debate in parliament on Wednesday.
He says these measures are the most effective legal instrument to combat coronavirus, as they give the authorities extraordinary power to restrict freedom of movement.
balos says that without it, all the sacrifices made so far would be meaningless.

Personalities representing the diplomatic and cultural life of the Spanish speaking countries in Bucharest, alongside the Spanish writer Care Santos, will read from the work of Miguel de Cervantes and several other great Spanish authors to the Romanian audience, on the International Book Day, informs a press release of the Cervantes Institute sent to AGERPRES.

The Spanish Government and people are waging together the "battle" against the novel coronavirus, which is a wake-up call regarding the vulnerabilities of societies, states the Spanish Ambassador to Bucharest, Manuel Larrotcha, in a material sent to AGERPRES.

849 people died from a coronavirus in Spain in 24 hours, the BBC reported.

This is the highest number of casualties in a day since the start of the epidemic about a month and a half ago.

"The total number of deaths in the Western European country has reached 8189 people to date," the Madrid Health Ministry said.

Spain's acting prime minister said in a press conference on Nov. 14 that he aims to form a functioning government by December.

The division in Catalonia between those in favor and those against the region's independence from Spain is quite similar to that in Northern Ireland, with sectarian tensions being possible too, warned Professor Ignacio Molina of the Elcano Royal Institute and the Autonomous University of Madrid at an event organized in Athens by a leading Greek think tank.

The leader of Spain's Catalonia region condemned increasing unrest in the city of Barcelona on Oct. 17, as protests intensified three days after nine leaders of a 2017 independence bid were sentenced to up to 13 years in jail.

Spain holds parliamentary elections on November 10th.

Spanish Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez failed to get enough support in parliament to become prime minister again. On the other side, King Felipe VI announced that he would not be proposing another prime ministerial candidate, thus paving the way for a new vote.