More than 40 families caught escaping to second homes on Spain’s Costa Blanca over Palm Sunday weekends (35,501

APPLAUDING: Medical workers clap a patient who survived the virus at a hospital in Catalunya

SMILING: A street sweeper on Barcelona’s famous La Rambla Photos by Mike Riley UP to 8,500 lives have been saved in the Comunitat Valenciana thanks to nearly 90% of residents staying at home, claims a study. Phone data obtained from Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE) showed that residents in the municipalities of Denia and Benicarlo were the most disciplined, with 96% of locals not going out. Across Valencia as a whole, an estimated 89% of people either stayed at home or only ventured out for basic necessities. The study by the INE, alongside six Valencia universities, claimed an estimated 8,500 people would have died in the Comunitat from COVID-19 if no measures were imposed. The study claimed that if ONLY basic social distancing measures were advised, 4,500 people would have died. If social distancing was advised alongside the closure of schools and events, 3,300 would have died. The death toll was also estimated at 1,500 had non-essential businesses remained open. The telecommunications data also showed that daily distances travelled dropped 59% in Castellon, 58% in Alicante and 52% in Valencia. The average across Spain was recorded as a 51% drop. 8,000 lives saved No laughing matter A BOY has been arrested after posting online he had COVID-19 symptoms having just arrived in Gandia from Madrid. The young man, believed to be a teenager, wrote that he’d come to the ‘pig farm’ called Gandia and laughed at locals ‘stuck in their homes’. “I came here three days ago, because my hospital in Madrid is full and I have COVID-19,” he posted. “If I don’t recover in a few days I will go to hospital and see what happens. Otherwise I will continue my daily outings to the beach, enjoying the sun, while you stay in your homes all bitter. Haha.” You sick puppy ! Madrid man banished from Torrevieja after he threatens to f*** the Costa Blanca resort with Covid-19 A MAN has been expelled from the Costa Blanca after boasting he’d travelled from Madrid to spread coronavirus. Torrevieja magistrates sent the 62-year-old away for his own safety after an online video went viral in which he insulted locals, claiming that he would ‘infect shoppers at Mercadona’. The order prohibits Antonio BD from, ‘residing or going to Torrevieja during the investigation.’ Guardia Civil first arrested the man on March 8, after he was accused of a hate crime, with a police spokesman initially assuring the public that the man’s claims were false. In reality, he has lived in Torrevieja since the new year, but the expulsion means he is no longer allowed within the boundaries of the town until investigations are over. Once summoned, the understanding is that he appears in any court other than Torrevieja. Additionally, his passport has been taken away, meaning he cannot leave the country. He reportedly told police that it ‘was a joke’ and he was sorry for the video. Vulgar The clip in question sees him making vulgar insults to locals in Torrevieja, claiming that he and the other ‘4,000 people’ that had just arrived from Madrid would, ‘F*** Torrevieja up the ar**’ He claimed his plan was to ‘starve’ the locals by infecting supermarkets and preventing them go out.