The Plaza Mayor in Madrid, Spain is seen deserted on April 21. Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images

The Spanish parliament voted to approve the extension of the state of emergency for the third time until May 9, prolonging the country’s stay-at-home order to eight weeks in total.

The state of emergency was first decreed on March 14, which ordered severe restrictions on movement and business.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez argued for another extension during a speech on Wednesday morning.

"This extension is different than the others” Sanchez said. "It's the first time I can do this with a carefully optimistic future. It is (the extension) that will begin to de-escalate the rules of confinement", he added.

Sanchez warned MPs that the next phase of de-escalation and the return to normality "needs to be slow, gradual and therefore secure."

The prime minister also mentioned that his government is "implementing a control system" for people traveling from inside or outside of Spain, "to avoid more imported contagions".

"Each mistake we do now, each challenge we fail, each delay caused by other interests will be a weight we will carry in the next months and years", he added.

Spain has reported the world’s second highest number of coronavirus cases, with more than 208,000 infections. The country has also enforced Europe’s strictest movement restrictions.