Pedro Sánchez (Spanish politician)

Spanish lawmakers on Thursday passed a law to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide for people with serious and incurable illnesses who want to end their life. The ruling passed the lower parliament house with 202 votes in favour and 141 against and 2 abstentions.

"Today we are a more humane, just and freer country. The euthanasia law, widely demanded by society, finally becomes a reality" Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Twitter.

Despite the socialist party (PSC) got more votes at the February 14th election, the independentists obtained 74 seats over 135 in parliament.

"I want to send a message to Pedro Sánchez, it is time to sit down to resolve the conflict and vote in a referendum and release prisoners with amnesty," were the first words pronounced, defiantly, by the ERC candidate, Pere Aragonès.

After having lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez announced all of his official engagements were suspended and he would self-isolate until 24 December. "The prime minister will undergo an immediate diagnostic test to determine his situation and will then decide, based on the results, how to manage his agenda over the coming days," so a statement of Sánchez’s office.

António Costa, Portuguese prime minister, met with Macron at the Élysée Palace on Wednesday and is currently awaiting his Covid-19 results in self-isolation. "The prime minister decided to cancel the trip [to Sao Tome and Principe and Guinea Bissau], as well as any public agenda that implies his physical presence. He will keep all executive activities and work schedule, which will be carried out remotely," Costa's office said.

The US and Europe may grant emergency authorisation for Pfizer and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine in early December after final trial results showed a 95% success rate and no serious side effects. Moderna's vaccine has also shown a 94.5% effectiveness.

Spain has announced to begin a comprehensive vaccination programme in January and hope to cover a substantial part of the population within three months, so prime minister, Pedro Sanchez.

The Spanish government decreed a new state of alarm and announced a night-time curfew for the entire territory of the European nation from 11 pm to 6 am, as authorities grapple with the second wave of Covid-19. The country returns to the state of alarm seven months after the Council of Ministers on March 14 decreed it to contain the first wave of the pandemic.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he would ask the Spanish parliament to keep the emergency mechanism in place for six months, until May 9.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez met Madrid regional premier Isabel Díaz Ayuso on Monday to coordinate measures against the spread of the new coronavirus, as the Madrid region has become the epicentre of the Covid-10 crisis in Spain, with more than one-third of all newly reported infections.

Sánchez stated that "Madrid needs a special plan."

The harshness of the second wave in the Community forces a change in the political climate, and the face-to-face between Pedro Sánchez and Isabel Díaz Ayuso signalled a thaw in months of frosty relations.

The Spanish president Pedro Sánchez has announced that the Spanish communities need to be the ones to request the declaration of a state of alarm in their territory if they think they need it. He guarantees that whoever does so will have the support of the majority votes of the government.

The president has also announced the availability of 2,000 military personnel to track infections in the autonomous regions that need them.

Spain is reopening for tourism after a three-month strict lockdown. The country is welcoming back tourists, however, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez urges to uphold social distancing measures and the use of face masks. Sánchez said to remain "on our guard" as a second wave of Covid-19 "must be avoided at all costs". Portugal will keep its borders with Spain closed until July 1.

Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón has died at age 55 in his Los Angeles home. According to La Vanguardia, the bestselling novelist was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2018. Zafón wrote eight novels that were translated into over 40 languages and sold more than 38 million copies.

"We have lost one of the world’s most read and most admired Spanish writers. Carlos Ruiz Zafón, a key novelist of our epoch, made a significant contribution to modern literature," so Spanish prime minister Predo Sánchez on Twitter.

Spain's La Liga will resume on June 11, three months after its suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic, announced the league's president Javier Tebas.

Tebas also informed that the 2020-21 season would start on September 12.

Last Saturday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez gave permission for the country's top two divisions to resume from June 8.

Following other countries, the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced that the use of a face mask will be mandatory on public transport. The government itself will hand out 6 million masks at mainly transport locations and distribute another 7 million to local authorities around the country.

Pedro Sanchez, Prime Minister of Spain, has announced a four-stage plan to release the Spanish lockdown that began on the 14th March.

Phase one will begin on the 11th May and will entail the limited opening of small shops, hotels, restaurants, and places of worship, with strict social distancing conditions.

Each phase will last a maximum of two weeks, with the move to the next stage being reviewed on a weekly basis. Spain is expected to reach its new normality by mid to late June.