Dr Fernando Simón, Director of the Health Alerts & Emergencies Coordination Centre, spoke about the stress of the coronavirus pandemic during the filming of the television program ‘Planeta Calleja’ in Majorca recently.

"I felt a weight on my back that because of something I said the country was going to close" he told Spanish TV Presenter and Mountaineer, Jesús Calleja.

"I would never have imagined that a Prime Minister had the courage to shut down a country" he added, confessing that "in meetings with Pedro Sánchez and Government Ministers there were doubts and fear."

Dr Simón insisted that "8M had nothing to do with this" and argued that coronavirus takes a few days to develop.

"I have a clear conscience", he said, whilst acknowledging that some decisions could have been made earlier, and told 'Planeta Calleja' that “it’s difficult to imagine another general confinement like the one in March."