Ifema, the Spanish conference centre which had been set to host Fespa, is being converted into a makeshift hospital to treat thousands of Spanish Coronavirus sufferers.
Spain is Europe’s second most affected country, after Italy, and with close to 1800 people being treated in intensive care units, hospitals are rapidly running out of space.
Hundreds of patients have been moved to the Madrid conference centre, which is being fitted out with 5,500 hospital beds, making it the largest such facility in the EU.
The Spanish military was involved in transporting the patients from local hospitals to the centre.
Eduardo Lopez-Puertas, Ifema’s director general, commented, ‘The Ifema teams are working in a tremendous way they have spent a weekend setting up the entire hospital.
‘I have to mention the collaborating companies of Ifema that just as they were there for the COP have been here with an immediate reaction time. We have not stopped and we have managed to set up a hospital in just 18 hours, which is an element of authentic record for everyone’s efforts, working day and night to have it planned as soon as possible.’
