A recent study in the medical journal The Lancet listed Spain as having one of the highest transmission rates of  COVID-19 in Europe. A recent record surge in infections was linked to social gatherings of young people and as 1.4 million students prepare to return to university across the country, many fear the worst.

To find out how higher education is fighting back against the virus' spread, CGTN Europe's Rahul Pathak visited the IE Business School in Madrid.

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There it is compulsory to wear a face mask, lectures are done through a mixture of face-to-face teaching and Zoom and everyone entering the campus needs to take a coronavirus blood test – including Rahul and his camera crew.

At public institutions, however, the situation is far less well-organized and could lead to fresh outbreaks.