Resumen: This paper investigates the determinants of the diffusion and intensity of the COVID-19 at the country level, focusing on the role played by urban agglomeration, measured using three urban variables: percentage of the urban population, population density, and primacy. We estimate the influence of urban agglomeration on two outcome variables: cumulative number of cases and deaths per 100, 000 inhabitants up to 31 December 2020, using both parametric and semiparametric models. We also explore possible spatial effects. The non-linear effects of the urban variables on the intensity of the disease reveal non-monotonous relationships, suggesting that it is the size of the urban system that is linked to a stronger incidence. Idioma: Inglés DOI: 10.1111/pirs.12647 Año: 2022 Publicado en: Papers in Regional Science 101, 2 (2022), 399-415 ISSN: 1056-8190 Factor impacto JCR: 2.1 (2022) Categ. JCR: GEOGRAPHY rank: 53 / 86 = 0.616 (2022) - Q3 - T2 Categ. JCR: ECONOMICS rank: 191 / 380 = 0.503 (2022) - Q3 - T2 Categ. JCR: REGIONAL & URBAN PLANNING rank: 33 / 40 = 0.825 (2022) - Q4 - T3 Categ. JCR: ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES rank: 101 / 128 = 0.789 (2022) - Q4 - T3 Factor impacto CITESCORE: 4.6 - Social Sciences (Q1) - Environmental Science (Q2)