Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez addressed a mostly empty plenary session over coronavirus emergency on Wednesday.

To avoid any propagation of the virus in parliament, there were only 28 lawmakers and five ministers there to listen to Sanchez, leaving the 350-strong assembly unusually empty.

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Spain's 47 million people have been under partial lockdown since Saturday night, allowed to leave their homes only to go to work, buy food or visit a pharmacy or hospital.

Sanchez said the coronavirus crisis, which had led Spain and several other European countries to shut schools and most shops, was an "unprecedented challenge".

With nearly 500 dead as of Tuesday's official data, Spain is the second-most hit country in Europe after Italy.