Spain's total coronavirus cases have crossed half a million, health ministry data showed today, as the government struggled to contain a surge of infections in one of Europe's hardest-hit countries.
The country of around 47 million people has recorded 525,549 confirmed cases of Covid-19, and 29,516 related deaths, since its first case was diagnosed on 31 January on the remote island of La Gomera in the Canaries, the ministry said.
This gives Spain a per-capita infection rate about twice that of France and Italy, according to an AFP tally based on official data.
Spain was one of the worst-affected countries when the coronavirus struck Europe this year before one of the world's most stringent lockdowns helped reduce the outbreak's spread.