MADRID, April 6 (Xinhua) -- The Madrid City Hall on Monday confirmed that it has received an important donation of sanitary equipment from the city's Chinese community.
In a press communique, Madrid local government said that the donation of 100,000 face masks, 60,000 gloves and 5,000 protective goggles was made by "distribution companies, associations and individuals from the Chinese community in Madrid."
The equipment has been provisionally stored in the Crystal Palace in Madrid's Casa de Campo urban park and will be distributed among health workers at the city's hospitals, including the temporary field hospital at the IFEMA exhibition center, which has beds for 5,500 COVID-19 patients.
Deputy Mayor of Madrid Begona Villacis said the city wanted to "thank the Chinese community; they have reacted incredibly and we want to thank them".
"They wanted to donate and help the City Hall to face up this crisis. We think that in these moments, solidarity is more important than ever and when we have needed them, the Chinese community has been here and this is a huge help, so we wish to thank them," she added.
This donation follows others made by Chinese communities in cities such as Zaragoza, where Chinese residents donated face masks and gloves to local health and security services.
Meanwhile, China's Jack Ma Foundation and the Alibaba Foundation arranged for a shipment of 500,000 face masks to help Spanish health authorities, and Chinese companies such as tech giant Huawei and the China Construction Bank have all made important donations.
According to the Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Services on Monday, Spain has registered 135,032 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 13,055 deaths. Madrid is the hardest hit region in the country with 5,136 deaths and 38,723 cases.
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