The first case of novel coronavirus on the Spanish mainland was confirmed on Tuesday by health authorities in the northeastern region of Catalonia.
The patient is a woman who lives in the city of Barcelona and had recently returned from a trip to the north of Italy where seven people have died and over 200 confirmed to be infected by the virus in recent days.
It is the second case confirmed in Spain in less than 48 hours, after an Italian doctor from the affected region of Lombardy also tested positive while on holiday on the island of Tenerife.
Tuesday also saw Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez chair the first meeting of an inter-ministerial committee his government has set up to deal with the crisis.
The government has pledged to act with "measure, transparency and proportionality" in the face of the coronavirus.
Two previous cases of COVID-19 in Spain were confirmed on the island of La Gomera (also in the Canary Island chain) and Mallorca (which is part of the Balearic Islands off the east coast of Spain). Both of them have made full recovery.
