Spain's death care industry is being pushed to the limit, as coffin makers work overtime and funeral homes conduct 40 services a day

• In Spain, coronavirus restrictions mean only three people are allowed to attend funerals and many are barred access to loved ones in their final days.
• The country saw an increase of 65% deaths across the six-week epicenter of the pandemic.
• Coffin factories are working overtime to keep up with demand, and funeral homes are conducting 40 services a day.
• View more episodes of Business Insider Weekly on Facebook.

At the South Cemetery in Madrid, Spain, sisters Ana and Rosa Moríñigo bid a brief farewell to their mother Ana García, who died of COVID-19 at 85.

They carry the ashes of their 89-year-old father Angel, who passed away just the day before their mother's funeral, also of COVID-19.

Mourners at this cemetery get just seven minutes for funerals, as funeral homes have been overwhelmed with victims of the coronavirus in recent weeks. The services are drive-thru, and no more than three people may attend.

"We've never seen [anything like] this," said José Luis Sáenz-Diez, chaplain at the cemetery. "I've been doing this for 20 years, and we've never seen such a quantity. It's very overwhelming."

Burying the dead has become a major challenge for countries fighting the coronavirus pandemic. And it's especially true in Spain, where overwhelming numbers of casualties are taxing death care industries and taking a toll on those left behind.

Spain has been one of the hardest hit countries by the coronavirus. It's seen around 250,000 cases and 25,000 deaths, and during the outbreak's six-week peak there, deaths increased by 65% from the year before.

At the South Cemetery, Sáenz-Diez and his colleagues perform 40 short services each day — more than double the number they used to before the pandemic.

Places of worship are closed too. Churches have been forced to stream their services as their congregations struggle with loss in a time of lockdown and isolation.

And behind the conveyor belt of funerals, coffin factories are also working overtime. One factory told Business Insider Today it's making up to 160 coffins a day, seven days a week.

But even once they are in a coffin, the dead must wait. And it's often the delay between death and burial that causes additional stress for families, especially in places like Spain, where funerals are normally held within a couple of days.

Ice rinks in Madrid have been commandeered as temporary morgues.

In Barcelona, three floors of an underground parking lot have been refrigerated to accommodate up to 2,000 corpses waiting for a space and time to be buried or cremated.

Memora, a funeral services company, is performing as many as eight times the number of ceremonies as usual — up to 210 per day, communications manager Fernando Sanchez said.

"It's a very difficult situation for families," Sanchez said. "It's also a very difficult situation for our professionals because it's the first time we're dealing with such intense emotional impact in families."

Similar stories are playing out all over the world as the death care industry enters uncharted waters.

On New York City's Hart Island, the number of burials in mass graves is being scaled up — for those with no known next of kin. In Ecuador, corpses sit on the roadside, and families have accused authorities of mishandling the bodies of loved ones.

Back in Madrid, Ana and Rosa Moríñigo bid a brief farewell to their mother.

"For me, it feels unreal," Rosa Moríñigo said. "It's like this isn't really happening. Because you feel like you are in limbo."

"The experience has felt really lonely," Ana Moríñigo said. "You are just alone."