Spain falls silent at start of 10-day mourning for COVID-19 victims

Millions fell silent across Spain at noon on Wednesday amid an official 10-day mourning period for the victims of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

King Felipe VI, Spain's king, led the minute's silence with his family to pay respects to more than 27,000 people died from COVID-19.

Spain's mourning period began on Wednesday when all flags on public buildings were lowered to half-mast in a country that has suffered one of the deadliest outbreaks of the virus.

The 10-day period is the longest national mourning declared in Spain since the restoration of democracy in the late 1970s.