FILE PHOTO: Spain's Health Minister Salvador Illa attends a news conference at Hospital Clinic in Barcelona, Spain February 12, 2020. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain’s government has banned all public events with an attendance of more than 1,000 people in Madrid, two areas in the Basque Country and La Rioja in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Health Minister Salvador Illa said on Tuesday.

In the rest of the country, the government will evaluate whether to ban mass-attendance events on a case-by-case basis, the minister said.