Portugal Extends Closure Of Land Border With Spain Until May 15 - Interior Minister

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th April, 2020) The land border between Portugal and Spain will remain closed until May 15 after Lisbon and Madrid jointly agreed to extend the closure for a month due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, the Portuguese minister of internal affairs Eduardo Cabrita stated at a press conference.

"In coordination with the Spanish government, we approved the extension of border controls and restrictions on our land border with Spain for one month, until May 15," Cabrita said as quoted by the country's Lusa news agency.

Only goods vehicles and individuals who need to travel for essential work will be allowed to cross the border, the agency cited Cabrita as saying.

Portugal has so far confirmed 16,934 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the outbreak, resulting in 535 deaths. On Monday, health authorities in the country registered 349 new positive tests for the disease in the preceding 24 hours.