The four star 360 bedroom Gran Hotel Colon in Madrid last Thursday morning closed to guests and opened for nurses and doctors, many of the doctors are young and not yet fully qualified. Wearing face masks doctors and nurses now welcome patients daily as the hotel has been converted to a care facility for people suffering with milder cases of COVID-19.
Regional government in Madrid plan to turn many more of the empty hotels in the area into healthcare facilities in the days and weeks ahead.
The Marriott Auditorium is another four star Madrid hotel that started receiving patients yesterday.
The Madrid Hotel Association said that their members had offered local health authorities a further 10,000 hotel beds in 40 hotels in the Madrid region for similar emergency use.
The regional government of Madrid said in a statement: “This will help alleviate pressure on hospitals which are starting to become overcrowded and free up beds for more seriously ill patients.”
Currently, Spain has the fourth highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the word following China, Italy and Iran.
Many hoteliers in the UK have looked at similar options and some have already offered their hotels for use by the NHS.