Spain's capital Madrid and the large city of Barcelona will be exempted when restrictions begin to be lifted in the country, according to the government.

The restrictions, which were introduced in mid-March, will be eased in several stages, depending on factors such as the rate of infection in the different regions. The next phase will see bars, restaurants and places of worship reopen with limited capacity. But the government believes that neither Madrid nor Barcelona are ready for this.

The regions of Madrid and Catalonia, where Barcelona is located, account for around half of all confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country.

Spain is the fourth hardest-hit country in the world by coronavirus, with more than 220,000 confirmed cases and 26,000 deaths since the beginning of the outbreak, according to Johns Hopkins University in the United States.

Source: TT