New virus restrictions in Spain's Catalonia, Valencia

Regional leaders in  northeastern Catalonia said all public activities must finish at half past midnight, and no more than 10 people will be allowed to gather in private or public places.

"The data are more than worrying, they are frankly very, very bad," Catalonia's public health secretary Josep Maria Argimon told reporters in Barcelona.

The whole of Spain has been facing a "rapid" and "significant" increase in the incidence of the virus for several weeks, with 368 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the last 14 days, said Fernando Simon, the central government's chief epidemiologist.

The latest wave of the disease has hit in particular under-30s who have not been vaccinated, he added.

In the province of Valencia, south of Catalonia, a 1 to 6 am curfew was restored in 32 towns, including the regional capital Valencia, Spain's third largest city after Madrid and Barcelona. All meetings were restricted to six people.

In the face of the increase in Covid-19 cases, neighbouring France last week advised people not to travel to Spain, labelling it a "red zone" country.

Hospital occupancy numbers in Spain are increasing slowly while the death rate is not rising at all, as so many more vulnerable people have been vaccinated, Simon said.

According to the health ministry, 59 percent of Spain's 47 million people have received at least one vaccine dose, while 45 percent have been fully vaccinated.