⁍ Junior Spanish doctors took to the streets of Barcelona on Tuesday to demand better working conditions.

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⁍ Since exiting a strict lockdown in mid-June, coronavirus cases in Spain have soared.

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⁍ Hospitalizations, though lower than the March-April peak, are also on the rise.

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– As Spain battles a second wave of coronavirus, hundreds of junior doctors took to the streets of Barcelona yesterday to demand better working conditions. “We’re working up to 80 hours a week and clocking shifts of 24 hours,” a 28-year-old medical resident intern tells Reuters. “Our contract is for 40 hours a week and we’re on a basic salary.” Between chants, the doctors—clad in white lab coats and face masks—lay down near a busy roundabout to stage a sleep-in. One protester lay next to a sign that read: “I haven’t slept in 24 hours. Can I take care of you?’ Since exiting a strict lockdown in mid-June, coronavirus cases in Spain have soared, with thousands diagnosed every day. Hospitalizations, though lower than the March-April peak, are also on the rise. Spain has recorded almost 750,000 cases since the epidemic began, with a death toll exceeding 31,000. Primary care staff are also struggling to contain the surging caseload. Regional authorities have locked down 45 mostly poor districts but have clashed with the national government, which favors a city-wide confinement. In the working-class neighborhood of Vallecas—one of the first to be shut down—local nurse Flora Espejo complained the political squabbling was doing nothing to help the situation. “These politicians need to calm down, do their job, and start to improve this situation, which is completely overwhelming.”