Antonio Banderas has tested positive for coronavirus in Malaga on his 60th birthday, he announced today.
Banderas, who is best known for his roles in Desperado and The Mask of Zorro, announced his diagnosis on social media and revealed that he was experiencing symptoms of fatigue.
The actor celebrated his girlfriend Nicole Kimpel’s 40th birthday with friends a week and a half ago and shared photos of the party including a large cake on his Instagram page.
Spain is the worst-hit nation in Europe at the moment, with many of its neighbours including Italy, Germany and the UK, recommending against travelling there.
And Malaga is one of the Spanish regions that continues to be worst hit by coronavirus, recording more than 800 new cases a day last week and face masks are mandatory in public spaces indoors and outdoors.
Banderas, 60, reassured fans that he expected to make a full recovery in the near future.
“I would like to add that I am relatively okay, just a little more tired than usual and confident that I will recover as soon as possible following the medical instructions that I hope will allow me to overcome the infection that I am suffering, and that is affecting so many people around the planet,” Banderas wrote in the message, translated from Spanish. He signed off with “a big hug to everyone.”
Quiero contaros lo siguiente… pic.twitter.com/u579iBVLM0
— Antonio Banderas (@antoniobanderas) August 10, 2020
Spain has already been hit with new travel restrictions in a blow to its tourism-reliant economy.
The country has so far seen 314,362 confirmed infections, with cases soaring over the past week and 28,503 deaths recorded.
On Friday the Health Ministry reported 4,507 new infections — nearly 500 more than the day before.
The data, however, does not include information from the hardest-hit region of Aragon due to technical issues.
Banderas said he was ‘confident that I will recover as soon as possible’ from the ‘infectious process that I suffer and that is affecting so many people around the planet’.
The actor added that he would be spending his time in isolation focusing on reading, writing and resting.
He skipped a charity gala which he was supposed to host on Sunday in Marbella on southern Spain’s Costa del Sol, not far from his Malaga hometown.
He said he would ‘continue making plans to begin to give meaning to my newly released 60 years to which I arrive loaded with desire and enthusiasm’.
Banderas has homes in Spain, the US, and near Surrey in England.
The actor’s work with Pedro Almodovar made him a star in Spain, before pop star Madonna introduced him to Hollywood.
He carved an illustrious career spanning more than 100 movies, with huge blockbuster success including Philadelphia, Puss in Boots, and Pain and Glory.
Banderas previously suffered a heart attack in January 2017 and credited Nicole with saving his life after giving him aspirin when he started suffering symptoms.
He later underwent surgery to insert three stents in his arteries.
Banderas is the latest in a string of high-profile figures to test positive for the illness, including Tom Hanks, Idris Elba, Bryan Cranston and the singer Pink.
The Mediterranean country announced nearly 26,000 new infections in the last seven days, up from 16,000 the week before and fewer than 2,000 in late June.
Catalonia alone saw more than 5,000 cases in the space of a week, while the nearby region of Aragon had the country’s highest infection rate per 100,000 people.
Despite Spain’s increase in cases, only 46 virus patients were admitted to intensive care in the week up to last Friday, compared to more than 20,000 people who tested positive for the virus.
The death toll has generally remained in single figures despite the recent increase, with only 16 fatalities in the week to Thursday.
The country has a series of strict rules in place in a bid to stem an uptick in infections.
These include keeping a social distance of 1.5 metres, the mandatory wearing of face masks in public spaces and tracking and tracing methods.