Spain records 3,000 new coronavirus cases in biggest jump since lifting lockdown

Spain has recorded 3,092 more cases of coronavirus in the biggest jump since lifting their national lockdown in June.

The country's health ministry said cumulative cases, which also include results from antibody tests on people who may have recovered from the disease, increased from 285,430 to 288,522.

The ministry added that 1,525 of the infections had been confirmed within the past 24 hours - the highest daily increase since the end of April.

It is third day in a row Spain has diagnosed more than 1,000 infections.

But the government's most senior coronavirus expert, Fernando Simon, denied that the country was facing a second wave.

Mr Simon told a news conference on Friday: "A second wave would be when we have uncontrolled, widespread community transmission."

He claimed that most of Spain had the outbreak under control but that it was spreading freely in some northeastern communities of Catalonia and Aragon.

The health ministry is monitoring 483 active clusters of the virus.

Around three quarters of the clusters include less than 10 people, Mr Simon said.

The rising rates of virus transmission has British left travellers to the popular holiday destination stranded.

Many were on holiday when the Government scrapped the air bridge with Spain, requiring UK arrivals to quarantine for two weeks on returning.