Empty pavilions, taxis without passengers: A quieter Barcelona reveals the damaging reach of coronavirus

Autocars Esteve S.L. is a family-owned company on the outskirts of Barcelona in Sant Boi de Llobregat. For one week each February, business booms as techies converge on the nearby Catalan capital for Mobile World Congress, the world’s biggest trade show of its kind.

At the height of the MWC hysteria, rented Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedans, vans and luxury “coach” buses pull in and out of the lot morning, noon and night to ferry telecoms executives, tech entrepreneurs, the occasional government minister and their handlers around town.