Statistics from the Carlos III public health institute in Madrid show that 25% of new cases across Spain are being detected in people aged 15-29, while those aged 15-59 account for 71% of new cases. The most overrepresented groups are men and women aged 15-44 and women aged 89 and over. As Parla’s mayor, Ramón Jurado, points out, residents of the municipality are young, with an average age of just 34.

“During the first wave, there were hardly any cases here because they were only testing older people who went into hospital,” he says…

Daniel López Codina, a lecturer at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Barcelona, and member of its computational biology and complex systems research group, says the differences between the first and second waves of the virus are stark.

“They’ve got nothing to do with each other,” he says. “The virus is the same – the changes in it are not significant – there are still a huge number of people who are susceptible to it, so the situation is similar to the first wave. But the difference now is that we have learned how we need to act.”