Spain
Spain has recorded no new coronavirus deaths in 24 hours (Picture: Getty)

Spain has recorded no new deaths from coronavirus in a 24-hour period for the first time in three months.

The total death toll was unchanged from Sunday at 27,127, the health ministry said.

It added the total number of COVID-19 infections increased by 71 in 24 hours to 239,638.

Emergency health response chief Fernando Simón described the latest stats as ‘very, very encouraging.’

‘We are in a very good place in the evolution of the pandemic,’ he said during a press conference.

‘The statistics are following a trend. They are going the right direction.’

epa08397081 People head outside for the first time in six weeks to go for a walk, cycle, skate or jog on the Paseo Maritimo seaside promenade in Barcelona, northeastern Spain, 02 May 2020. Starting on 02 May, Spain has started loosening some of the strict lockdown measures imposed in a bid to slow down the spread of the pandemic COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Adults and the elderly are once again able to leave their homes for a walk or to perform exercise, albeit with restrictions. The former are allowed to exercise or go out for a stroll between 6-10 am and 8-11 pm, while the latter may leave their homes between 10 am-12 pm and 7-8 pm. Children under the age of 14 can go out between 12-7 pm. EPA/QUIQUE GARCIA
The Paseo Maritimo seaside promenade in Barcelona (Picture: EPA)

Meanwhile, swimmers and sun-bathers turned out in droves on Monday as Spain reopened nearly all its beaches for the first time in months and the government sought to revive a tourist industry brought to its knees by the coronavirus epidemic.

Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum also reopened its doors, the first such institution to do since the strict lockdown imposed on the country in mid-March began to be eased.

People sunbathe at Las Teresitas beach in the Spanish Canry Island of Tenerife on May 25, 2020, on the first day after beaches reopened in parts of the country after months-long closures. - Regions incorporating just under half of Spain's nearly 47 million inhabitants were moving into phase two of the three-stage rollback that is due to be completed by the end of June. (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN / AFP) (Photo by DESIREE MARTIN/AFP via Getty Images)
People sunbathe at Las Teresitas beach in Tenerife (Picture: Getty)

Seeking to entice international visitors back for a planned re-opening in July, the government said it aimed to guarantee health conditions.

‘It’s not a question of being the first in reopening but to reopen knowing we guarantee the health not only of residents but also of visitors,’ Industry and Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto told Telecinco TV.

Tourism accounts for one in eight jobs in Spain, the world’s second most visited country after France, and contributes more than 12% of Spanish GDP.

But revenues from tourism about halved in the four months to April and no tourists travelled to Spain at all that month because of the lockdown.

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