Spain marks the Day of the Dead in socially distanced celebrations

SPAIN marks the Day of the Dead in socially distanced celebrations amid coronavirus concerns as families attend the same cemeteries on different days.

Following Spain’s recently imposed six-month state of emergency, families honouring their dead relatives by visiting cemeteries on the Day of the Dead are having to space out their visits this year, as the second wave of coronavirus sweeps the country.

Authorities announced that families should only spend 30 minutes at graveyards and could not go in large groups as Day of the Dead traditions, which is linked to the Catholic holidays of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day at the start of November, have fallen victim to the global pandemic.

81-year-old Francisco Gonzalez, who visited the Almudena cemetery in Madrid with his wife, said: “Our family is coming separately, two or three days apart. We are the last to visit.”