Spain announces 10-day mourning period for coronavirus victims
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Flags will be hoisted to half-staff in more than 14,000 public buildings across the nation and on Spanish naval vessels until June 5.
The Spanish government has announced a 10-day mourning period to pay tribute to nearly 27,000 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus.
Flags will be hoisted to half-staff in more than 14,000 public buildings across the nation and on Spanish naval vessels until June 5, under the declaration made Tuesday.
King Felipe VI, as Spain's head of state, will preside over a solemn memorial ceremony once the country emerges from the lockdown imposed 2 1/2 months ago, the government said.
The victims were ''men and women whose lives have been suddenly cut short, leaving friends and family in great pain, both from the sudden loss and from the difficult circumstances in which it has occurred,'' the Spanish government’s spokeswoman, Minister María Jesús Montero, said.
The period will end with an official ceremony led by the head of state in remembrance of the 26,834 fatalities recorded in the country.
Previously, opposition parties had criticized the left-wing coalition of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for not paying homage to the victims.
Spain has reported a total of 235,400 confirmed cases of the disease.
