Spain declares nationwide state of emergency over Covid-19, says Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. Credit: AFP Photo

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez declared a national state of emergency Sunday, and a curfew covering all of Spain except the Canary Islands, in a bid to curb a second wave of coronavirus cases.

The new state of emergency will last until the beginning of May, Sanchez added.

"The situation we are going through is extreme," he said in a televised address following a cabinet meeting convened to discuss the crisis.

The emergency measures came in response to calls from the regions for powers to impose curfews to fight the surge in coronavirus cases, after Spain on Wednesday became the first European country to record more than a million cases of the virus.