Festive lights and Christmas shopping bring crowds to central Madrid, despite pandemic

The city of Madrid saw huge crowds of people going Christmas shopping and admiring festive lights over the weekend, raising fears that it could trigger another COVID spike.

Now, the Spanish government has called on people to behave responsibly and use their ‘common sense’.

It's also reported that authorities have sectioned off popular shopping streets to limit numbers.

At the beginning of October, with 859 cases per 100,000 people, according to the World Health Organization, the Madrid area was considered Europe's worst hotspot.

But, through a variety of restrictions which differed region to region, Spain and Madrid have managed to flatten the curve so far.