Covid-19: Spain extends state of emergency by 15 days

The country has recorded 3600 new cases of coronavirus in 24 hours, bringing the total number diagnosed to more than 28,000.

It is the second worst-hit country in Europe, after Italy, with more than 1700 deaths.

DCU lecturer Eoin O’Malley is on lockdown in the south of Spain. He said that normal life in the country has been put on hold.

"Nothing is open," said Mr O'Malley. "The only things that are open are supermarkets really."

"There are banks that open for about an hour every day, beyond that nothing," he said.

"There is almost nobody out on the street," he said, "You're only allowed out on the street if you're walking a dog or going to the shops."

Spain has struggled to contain the spread of Covid-19 as the country experienced another surge of cases this weekend.

Madrid is the hardest-hit region with 9,000 infections reported yesterday.

Meanwhile, a teacher from Derry who endures the continuous sound of church bells tolling for the dead in northern Italy has urged people in her native city to stay indoors.

Fionnuala Crabtree is in lockdown in the walled city of Bergamo, near Milan.

The Bergamo area has been hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic which has swept the country.

Ms Crabtree said: "We sit in our apartments and listen to the continuous sound of sirens and the church bells that mark the mourning of so many loved ones in our city."