The Spanish health ministry earlier announced the country has recorded one million cases of coronavirus.

Spain is the first country in western Europe to reach such a number.

The total tally of cases in Spain now sits at 1,005,295, after an increase of 16,973 today.

READ MORE: New Covid restrictions imposed in Europe as cases hit record high

Spanish citizens were subject to strict lockdown measures in March, which slowed the infection rate - however it started to climb rapidly at the end of August despite mitigating measures.

In just six weeks, the number of cases in Spain has doubled, with around 10,000 cases reported daily.  

Last week, France declared a state of emergency and a 9pm-6am curfew was announced for nine cities across the country after the number of coronavirus cases reached 779,063.

The curfew is to last for at least four weeks, according to President Macron.