Barcelona mayor sends message of support to city's Chinese community

Barcelona mayor Ada Colau sent a message of support to the city's Chinese community on Friday, after meeting with China's consul general in the Catalan capital, Lin Nan, on Friday.

Despite the cancelation of the Chinese New Year celebrations and the MWC mobile fair due to the coronavirus outbreak, "there is no alarm in the city or the country," she said.

Colau pointed out that Barcelona's Chinese community is the second largest in the city, with 21,000 residents, and that many locals have shown them their "support and solidarity."

She also said that "we can carry out all activities with normality in all spheres," and said the representatives from the Chinese community had noted only a slight dip in business.

Lin Nan responded to Colau's words by thanking her for the "great and valuable" support of the local society and that of the Barcelona, Catalan and Spanish authorities.

The consul general and the mayor expressed their belief that they will be able to celebrate the end of the epidemic together, with Lin Nan adding that the situation was improving.

"With the measures taken by the Chinese government, we're seeing positive results in the fight against the epidemic, with now more people cured than have died," she concluded.