⁍ Spain is one of Europe’s worst COVID-19 hot spots, with over 3 million infections.

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⁍ The government said the state of emergency, and the restrictions on mobility it comes with, were unavoidable.

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⁍ Catalonia on Thursday joined a growing number of regions banning entering and exiting their territory for at least 15 days.

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– Spain has declared a state of emergency as the H1N1 virus continues to spread. The state of emergency will last until early May, giving regions the legal authority to impose curfews and restrict travel, Reuters reports. Spain is one of Europe’s worst hot spots, with over 3 million infections. Its response to the pandemic has often been hampered by political wrangling, but the government this time managed to gather enough votes for parliament to back extending an initial two-week decree until May 9. Some worried about the consequences, though, in a country that is already suffering through its worst recession since the late 1930s civil war. ‘It seems too much to me, people can’t stand it,’ said Madrid resident Angela Suarez, a chef who has already had her working hours reduced because of the crisis. ‘We don’t know what to do. And we pay rent, bills, we’re thinking, what, what, what to do?’ The government said the state of emergency, and the restrictions on mobility it comes with across Spain, were unavoidable. ‘We are aware that citizens are tired after months of effort and sacrifices, of not being able to do what they used to do before, to hug people, our family and friends,’ Health Minister Salvador Illa told parliament. ‘But it is not the time to relax measures, we have, very tough weeks and months ahead of us.’