Spain to stage official state victims’ memorial to honour coronavirus dead

“There will be a state ceremony on July 16th to honour our 27,000 fellow countrymen who lost their lives that will also pay homage to those public servants who have been fighting on the front line against the pandemic,” Pedro Sanchez told parliament.   

King Felipe VI will preside over the event which will take place in the square outside the Royal Palace in Madrid, a government statement said.    

A sign taped to a tree in a Madrid park reads: They are not just a number, they have a name. Domi Burgos Montero, 75, March 28, 2020″  in memory of victim of the COVID-19. Photo: AFP

Among those attending will be EU Council chief Charles Michel, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, European Parliament leader David Sassoli, top EU diplomat Josep Borrell and World Health Organization head
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.   

Spain suffered a particularly hard outbreak of the virus which has officially left 27,136 people dead from 244,000 cases, making it the sixth worst-hit country in the world.   

On May 27th, Spain started a 10-day mourning period for the victims of the epidemic, the longest ever decreed since it returned to democracy with the 1975 fall of the Franco dictatorship.