positive for covid-19, resulting in her and her husband, second deputy prime minister of spain pablo iglesias, being placed under quarantine, thus becoming the highest-ranking spanish officials to be confirmed with the disease, which prompted moncloa palace to announce a coronavirus testing for the remaining members of the spanish government. first two cases reported in the island of la palma. the regional governments of murcia, galicia, catalonia, the basque country, asturias, aragon, canary islands, castile-la mancha, navarre, extremadura, balearic islands, cantabria and the city of melilla announced the cancellation of classes at all educational levels in their respective regions, making a total of 14 out of 17 autonomous communities and one of the autonomous cities with cancelled classes. the king and queen of spain underwent a test after queen consort letizia had been in contact with irene montero on 6 march. mayor of barcelona ada colau announces she is in preventive quarantine. the spanish cortes generales suspend their activity for a period of 15 days. traffic between morocco and spain is suspended. the ministry of the interior decided to isolate its 69 jails. carmen leyte, spanish senator of the conservative people's party in representation of ourense tests positive for covid-19, becoming the first member of the senate to be affected by the disease. the sagrada familia closed for tourists and construction workers. catalan government orders the confinement of the city of igualada and the towns of vilanova del camí, òdena and santa margarida de montbui after igualada hospital became a contagion focus. this first measure in spain will affect 70,000 people during 14 days. ibex 35 falls 14% in its worst drop in history in a single day. nationwide closure of schools after all autonomous communities order it. more than 10 million students (1 million from university and 9 million from schools) ordered to stay at home for a period of two weeks. leader of vox santiago abascal and spokesperson of vox in the congress macarena olona confirm they have both tested positive in covid-19. spanish minister of territorial policy and civil service carolina darias tested as positive. two cases of the virus are confirmed in the autonomous city of melilla. the liga de fútbol profesional announced that la liga and the segunda división (the top two leagues of football in spain) had been suspended for at least 14 days. this announcement followed real madrid cf's champions league match against manchester city f.c. being postponed, due to the real madrid players being put into quarantine. a real madrid basketball player had tested positive for the virus, and the real madrid football players were feared at risk as well due to sharing training facilities with their basketball team. 13 march mayor of madrid, josé luis martínez almeida, ordered the closure of bars and terraces in the capital, and announced that his government is prepared, if needed, to isolate the city. beatriz jiménez linuesa, deputy of the people's party, confirms she has tested positive, which makes a total of 7 deputies and 1 senator infected by the disease. the basque country announced a declaration of sanitary emergency in the region, which allows population confinement. the first two cases are reported in the autonomous city of melilla. the president of the national court announced the suspension of all the ordinary functions of this court for 15 days, keeping only the urgent proceedings and the court on duty. the queen consort letizia ortiz suspended her agenda for some days and self-isolates. she tested negative for covid-19 after meeting some days before with an infected government minister. judicial activity in the community of madrid, basque country, igualada and haro are suspended by an order of the general council of the judiciary. the government of murcia announced the confinement of more than 500,000 people in coastal municipalities. all provinces of spain confirmed at least one positive after cases are confirmed in: ávila, cuenca, huesca, palencia and soria, leaving the autonomous city of ceuta and the islands of el hierro and formentera as the only territories without cases reported. prime minister of spain pedro sánchez announced a declaration of the constitutional state of alarm in the nation for a period of 15 days, to become effective the following day after the approval of the council of ministers. doñana national park, santiago de compostela cathedral and tower of hercules closed for visitors and activities. catalonia reported 190 new cases in the highest rise in cases in a day. adriana lastra, spokesperson of the psoe, self-isolated after one of her collaborators tested positive, although she announced that she had no symptoms. from saturday, asturias, catalonia, cantabria, galicia and madrid closed all shops except those selling food and basic necessities. vicepresident of castile and león, francisco igea, announced the suspension of the holy week festivities in the region after talks with the regional administration. president of the balearic islands, francina armengol, asked the prime minister to suspend traffic between the mainland and the islands. president of catalonia, quim torra, asked the prime minister to authorise the closure of all catalonia's ports, airports and railways. it was reported that on 11 march 2020 former secretary general of nato and former high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy javier solana, had been admitted to the hospital after being infected by covid-19. in extremadura, arroyo de la luz was put on lockdown. 14 march vilafranca del penedès bar closed due to the coronavirus vox deputy antonio salvá tested positive for covid-19. seville, granada and cordoba city councils, as well as the region of murcia, officially cancelled the holy week festivities. first death reported in galicia. the regional governments of murcia and the basque country close all shops except those selling food and basic necessities. the mayor of madrid closes parks and public gardens. the spanish government imposes a nationwide lockdown, bans all trips that are not force majeure and announces it may intervene in companies to guarantee supplies. other provinces start to announce the cancellation of the holy week festivities. begoña gómez, prime minister's wife, tests positive for covid-19. 15 march deserted streets in vilafranca del penedès. first case in the autonomous city of ceuta, a student from madrid. seville's feria de abril is postponed to september for the first time in its history. ombudsman of catalonia rafael ribó and catalan vice president pere aragonès test positive for the virus. valencia cf announces five cases of coronavirus; footballers ezequiel garay, eliaquim mangala and josé luis gayà, and one member of the technical team and one doctor. in response to the increasing number of cases of the covid-19 pandemic, the spanish government declared a state of alarm and announced the imposition of a national lockdown starting on 15 march as part of emergency measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak in the country. all residents are mandated to remain in their normal residences except to purchase food and medicines, work or attend emergencies. lockdown restrictions also mandated the temporary closure of non-essential shops and businesses, including bars, restaurants, cafes, cinemas and commercial and retail businesses, while also announcing that the government will be able to take over private healthcare providers, if needed. the announcement came following significant increases in the number of confirmed cases of covid-19 in spain, increasing by 66% from 3,146 cases to 5,232 cases on 13 march 2020. the "extraordinary decision", according to the pm pedro sánchez, is necessary as spain deals with a "health, social and economic crisis". 16 march president of the community of madrid, isabel díaz ayuso, who presides over the most affected region, becomes the first regional president to test positive for the virus. basque elections, scheduled for 5 april, are delayed until the crisis is overcome, after an agreement between all the political parties represented in the basque parliament. president of the government of catalonia quim torra, who presides over the second-most affected region, also tested positive for coronavirus. galician elections, also scheduled for 5 april, were delayed until the crisis had been resolved. minister of the interior grande-marlaska announced the closing of spanish frontiers to be in effect from 12 pm on 16 march, only authorising the entry of spanish citizens and those that prove cause of force majeure or situation of need. the entry restrictions will have no effect on the transport of merchandise to guarantee the supply chain. it will not affect foreign diplomatic personnel either. 17 march the first death in the province of tarragona is confirmed in valls hospital, an 88-year-old woman from badalona. the selectividad (spanish university access tests), scheduled in june for more than 300,000 students, were delayed until further notice. president of the government of the balearic islands, francina armengol, announced that after receiving the approval of the spanish government, her government would proceed to the closure of all airports and ports in the region, with "a few exceptions". pm pedro sánchez announces a support package of more than 200 billion euros, almost 20% of the spanish gdp, to cushion the impact of the coronavirus crisis. the royal decree approved by his government also includes a moratorium on the payment of mortgages for workers and self-employed in economic vulnerability and for those affected by covid-19, as well as the streamlining of temporary dismissal files (known as erte), support for workers and companies affected by downturns, measures to guarantee the liquidity of companies and to promote research to achieve a vaccine. former president of real madrid lorenzo sanz is admitted to hospital in serious condition after testing positive for coronavirus. 18 march the number of infections reached 14,500 as the death toll reached more than 600. a donation from the chinese government of more than 500,000 facemasks arrives in spain. the basque minister of education lengthened the closure of schools indefinitely. the congress of deputies met in a historic session as the prime minister reports on the management of the state of alarm. in strict health security measures, only 5% of lawmakers were present. former senator and former mayor of badalona xavier garcía albiol tested positive for covid-19. the king felipe vi addressed a message to the nation in a special speech for the second time in his reign and the sixth by a monarch in 40 years of democracy. the eurovision song contest 2020 was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, where blas cantó was supposed to perform his song "universo" in rotterdam, representing spain in may. 19 march empty shelves in a consum supermarket on 14 march the canary islands restrict flights between the peninsula and its islands. air and sea connections to the balearic islands cease due to flight companies stopping all flights. first reported death of a healthcare worker in the country, a nurse from the basque country. former president of the community of madrid and former president of the senate esperanza aguirre and her husband are hospitalised. itziar ituño, an actress known for her role as inspector raquel murillo in the spanish television series money heist, announced she had tested positive. 20 march spain exceeds 1,000 deaths. first case confirmed on the island of el hierro. la liga club rcd espanyol player wu lei, who originates from china, tested positive. carlos falcó, 5th marquess of griñón peer, socialite, entrepreneur and grandee of spain died from covid-19 aged 83. 21 march disinfection of subway in bilbao, basque country, 21 march the ministry of health announced the purchase of 640,000 rapid tests. former real madrid president lorenzo sanz died of covid-19. isabel díaz ayuso (president of the community of madrid) announced that 80% of the madrid's residents might get the disease. more than 350,000 tests for covid-19 had been conducted. 22 march plácido domingo, a well-known spanish opera singer, announced he has tested positive for covid-19. spanish pm pedro sánchez announces that he will take the petition to extend the state of alarm in the nation until 11 april to the congress after consultations with regional presidents. the mother and the father-in-law of the prime minister pedro sánchez are hospitalised after being infected with coronavirus. the president of the region of murcia orders the cessation of all non-essential economic activities, a decision later revoked by the central government. 23 march spain adds 4,000 cases in a single day, reaching 33,000 infected and 2,182 dead. romería de el rocío, scheduled 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