Spain limits movements, closes shops to stem virus spread

Spain's government has announced that it is placing tight restrictions on movements and closing restaurants and other establishments in the nation of 46 million people as part of a two-week state of emergency to fight the sharp rise in coronavirus infections.

Spain on Saturday followed Italy's path in implementing a similar lockdown after both European countries failed to contain the virus in regional hotspots.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Snchez detailed the battery of exceptional measures in a nationally televised address after holding a Cabinet meeting that lasted over seven hours. The delay was reportedly due to discrepancies in the coalition government of Snchez's Socialists and the anti-austerity United We Can.

"From now we enter into a new phase," Snchez said. "We won't hesitate in doing what we need must to beat the virus. We are putting health first."