But they have warned that they need more help as they grapple with the largest number of cases in the country.

“We are collapsing. We need more workers,” said Lidia Perera, a nurse at Madrid’s 1,000-bed Hospital de la Paz. “If you had told me three months ago that I would be working in these conditions in Spain, I wouldn’t have believed you. If they did [regular testing], they might end up without any workers.”

As well as the growing list of fatalities, Spain has 47,610 cases, of which 7,973 were recorded over the past 24 hours.

That is the highest daily number of infections recorded in Spain so far, and came as the nationwide state of emergency and accompanying lockdown, begun on March 15, was extended until April 11. People are banned from leaving home except for buying essential supplies and medicines, or for work.

The situation is calm in some parts of the country. In a rural area near Malaga a British expatriate said today that supermarkets were well-stocked and shoppers were “courteous and considerate”, although many wore masks.

Elsewhere there has been tension and occasional violence, including an incident in which a 29-year-old man was stabbed by his 31-year-old flatmate as he tried to leave home with a cough.

Jose Angel Gonzalez, deputy head of the Spanish National Police, encouraged people to ring the country’s equivalent of 999 if they witnessed or heard about other wrongdoing.

More than 1,000 people have been arrested during the state of emergency and 20,000 fines have been issued.

27-03-2020 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR