Spain has recorded 80,000 new cases of coronavirus over the last two weeks - by far the most in Western Europe and pushing the country past the US in terms of infection rates. 

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has returned from the government's summer recess to mobilize 2,000 military personnel to the worst affected regions to assist with tracking carriers of the disease.

However, he has rejected the idea of a national lockdown and promised targeted action to tackle the outbreak.

"We will not allow the pandemic to take over our lives again," he vowed. "We have to take control, beat this second curve which is rising again menacingly. The sooner and more effectively we do this, the better."

In the Madrid region, new infections are now rising faster than anywhere in the country. The Prime Minister announced that regional authorities can request to re-enter a state-of-emergency to introduce action they feel necessary.

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'Drastic measures'

Spain's economy has been devastated from the previous lockdown. Over 1.1 million jobs have been lost since April – unprecedented in recent history. That is set to rise sharply when a government furlough scheme comes to an end at the start of October.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also published data to suggest that Spain's economic position had worsened last month when compared with other Eurozone countries.

"If the cases keep rising, we will need to take drastic measures. I don't know exactly if it will have to be a local confinement like a village, where it is relatively easy to do or if it has to be another kind of measure related to peoples movement," said Fernando Simon, director for health and alerts.