Spain is one of the countries worst hit by the coronavirus. Catastrophic conditions in hospitals, eerily deserted inner cities and days with up to 1,000 COVID-19 deaths.

In record time, the epidemic has swept away everything that the Spanish cherish so dearly: close contact with the extended family, greetings with kisses and hugs, the bustle of outdoor life – on the street, in parks, cafés and restaurants. Reporter Natalia Bachmayer has travelled through a shattered country, meeting people like David, who cannot get over the lonely death of his grandmother. Or Aura, a migrant who came to Spain full of dreams and now stands in line for food in one of the many “hunger queues”. The reporter has also seen how the crisis in one district of Madrid has turned neighbours into friends.

Natalia visited Miguel, the mayor of a tiny Canary island. For years he sought to attract more attention and visitors but is now glad the island has stayed miraculously virus-free. “Spain’s fight with the coronavirus” depicts life in a country which is waking up from the nightmare, a land in a state of emergency.