Britons are told to avoid ‘all but essential travel’ to Madrid and some other parts of Spain amid coronavirus outbreak
- Britons should avoid non-essential travel to the regions of Madrid and La Rioja and municipalities of La Bastida, Vitoria and Miranda de Ebro, UK officials say
- Spanish authorities have designated them as ‘areas of community transmission’
- Spain has 2,968 virus cases and 84 deaths – Europe’s worst figures outside Italy
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
Britons have today been advised to avoid ‘all but essential travel’ to Madrid and some other parts of Spain because of coronavirus fears.
The Foreign Office said Britons should scrap non-essential visits to the regions of Madrid and La Rioja and the municipalities of La Bastida, Vitoria and Miranda de Ebro.
Spanish authorities have designated those places as ‘areas of community transmission’.
Spain has recorded 2,968 virus cases and 84 deaths, making it the worst outbreak in Europe apart from Italy.
Red Cross members demonstrate hygiene measures in Madrid where Britons have now been advised to avoid travelling unless necessary because of coronavirus
Britons who are currently in Spain are not being advised to leave, because flights and other transport routes are still running.
Airlines are still running flights to and from the areas in question, the Foreign Office said.
However, the Spanish government has suspended all incoming flights from Italy until March 25 and asked people to avoid unnecessary travel.
‘People intending to travel to Spain should consult their airlines and tour operators,’ the UK government advice says.
The region of Madrid is one of 17 autonomous communities in Spain, and includes the capital city.
The community of La Rioja, also designated as a virus hotspot, is further north and includes the cities of Logrono and Calahorra.
La Bastida and Miranda de Ebro are in the north-western Castile and Leon region, while Vitoria is in the Basque country.
There is no advice against travelling to the rest of Spain, but officials are keeping the outbreak under review.
The FCO advice follows very similar guidance issued by Ireland’s foreign minister Simon Coveney two days ago.
Catalan police officers stop a car trying to get into Igualada, one of four towns closed down by regional authorities, at a checkpoint near Barcelona this morning
Separately, four towns in Catalonia were put under quarantine on Thursday in the first such move in the country.
The 66,000 inhabitants of the localities of Igualada, Odena, Santa Margarida de Montbui and Vilanova del Cami ‘cannot leave their urban core’ although they can leave their homes, a statement said.
Catalonia’s health minister Alba Verges tod reporters that the authorities would be focussing on Igualada, a town of 40,000 people around 40 miles from Barcelona.
There are currently 58 cases in the town, 38 more than on Wednesday, the health minister said.
Catalan police officers were blocking cars trying to leave Igualada on a road this morning.
Spain’s royal palace said yesterday that King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia had tested negative for Covid-19.