Cyclists and runners took to the streets and seafronts of Spain today as the country continued to ease its coronavirus lockdown and the prime minister called for the public to act responsibly.
As the first fitness junkies darted from their homes from 6am after 49 days of confinement, other European countries have also begun to creep out of lockdown
Yesterday, Austria ‘abandoned’ restrictions on movement, after the Public Health Minister Rudolf Anschober announced a roadmap out of lockdown for May earlier this week.
Austria loosened its quarantine early, with small shops allowed to open in mid-April, which is being extended to beauty salons this month.
Though Austrians are now free to wander through their cities and towns, at a safe distance, they still won’t be able to eat in a restaurant until 15 May.
The European nation has consistently reported under 100 cases of the coronavirus per day, with just 542 deaths since the start of the outbreak, according to the World Health Organization.
Meanwhile, by breakfast time this morning, thousands of cyclists had taken to a five-mile footpath in Barcelona known as the La Carretera de les Aigues – Road of the Waters in English – making it difficult to maintain social distancing guidelines.
A pair of early-rising cyclists venture out this morning in Malaga, southern Spain, after the country eased their lockdown restrictions, allowing adults out in a shift pattern
Several people do exercise or go for a walk along Paseo Maritimo promenade early morning in Barcelona, Spain, this morning. Spain begins a de-escalation phase amid the coronavirus outbreak, allowing adults to leave their homes’ daily, but with restrictions
People do exercise in the early morning in Madrid, Spain, today. Spain has begun a de-escalation phase amid the coronavirus outbreak, allowing adults to leave their homes on a daily basis, but only for specified hours
In parts of Madrid sports enthusiasts, most without face masks, also got close to each other as they used the same pavements to exercise.
Today marked the start of the time-slot system announced by health minister Salvador Illa on Thursday.
Adults wanting to do individual sport like running and cycling have been told they must go out between 6am and 10am or 8pm to 11pm.
Those aged over 70 who want to go for a stroll must wait to be released between 10am and midday or 7pm to 8pm.
And children under 14 with a parent, who have been allowed out for an hour between 9am and 9pm since last Sunday, will continue to be able to do so but only from midday to 7pm,
Adults under 70 wanting to stroll have also been told to stick to the same timetables as sports enthusiasts, but they must stay within a kilometre of their homes and walk for an hour maximum.
Those doing sport can move within their municipality for as long as they want within their allocated time-slot.
Beaches in Tarifa were opened to water sports enthusiasts including windsurfers and kite-surfers, although swimming will remain off limits until at June 8 when some areas hope to move towards the last phase of a national de-escalation plan.
In towns and cities, the odd rollerblader mixed with the many runners and cyclists.
Joggers in the Costa del Sol resort of Marbella were encouraged to use a series of routes recommended by a local athlete and promoted by the town hall on social media.
In Barcelona 70 parks have been re-opened and more than 40 streets closed to traffic to facilitate social distancing.
Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez plea for people to act ‘responsibly’ in an early morning tweet.
A man runs through a Madrid park this morning as the country eases its lockdown restrictions, allowing adults out in a shift pattern
Adults are allowed to do exercise and go out for a walk from 6am to 10am and 8am to 11pm. Elderly people can go out for a walk from 10am to 12pm and 7pm to 8pm and children who are under-14, from 12pm to 7pm. Spain has had one of the strictest lockdowns in Europe since the 15 March
People can be seen cycling along a road in Madrid as Spain eases its lockdown restrictions, allowing adults to venture out daily in a shift pattern
He said: ‘Today we take a new step with the measures easing confinement but we must do it with common sense and responsibility,
‘The virus is still out there.’
Brit expat John Stephens, out for a morning walk in Marbella, said: ‘I had intended heading to the seafront but when I got there it was pretty packed.
‘People were trying to keep as far apart from each other as possible but the problem was the sheer numbers. It was madness to be honest.
‘I’m hoping it was just a case of people being desperate to get out and do sport after so long cooped up inside, and the novelty will wear off for many later in the week.’
Tour de France winner Pedro Delgado, criticising Health Minister Salvador Illa in a sarcastic tweet about the early-morning and late-night slots, said: ‘Great stuff Minister Illa.
‘With those timetables and the municipal boundary limits, it’s impossible to do cycling.
‘It’s an invitation to everyone to go out at once and get close continually at times of the day when visibility is not great.
‘Perhaps it’s been designed to give more work to our already saturated hospitals?’
The lifting of the ban on outdoor sport is the second key easing of Spain’s coronavirus lockdown, after the under 14s were allowed out with one of their parents or guardians from last Sunday.
Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez announced a four-phase Covid-19 de-escalation plan on Tuesday, which will kick off on some Canary Islands and Formentera in the Balearic Islands on Monday.
Two men surf in the waters around Maresme, Barcelona, Spain, this morning, as the country eases its lockdown restrictions
Hotels on the islands have been allowed to re-open, although hoteliers there and in other parts of Spain who expecting to be able to re-open on May 11 say they intend staying shut because there are no tourists.
Travel between provinces and islands in Spain has been banned until at least June 22.
The question of when air and land borders will be reopened, and foreign tourists allowed back into Spain, remains unanswered.
Spain’s Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto confirmed on Thursday the Spanish government was preparing a plan to relaunch national tourism ahead of the peak summer season.
On the question of foreign tourism she said her intention was that they ‘returned soon and with maximum safety guarantees, if the health and travel situation made it possible.’
The emergency hospital operating at Ifema in Madrid, Europe’s largest field hospital which at one point was treating nearly 1,300 Covid-19 patients, closed on Friday.
It began to operate on March 22 to help the Spanish’s capital saturated hospitals.
Developments show that Spain is pulling out of the crisis that has now claimed the lives of 24,824 people. The death toll rose by 281 overnight, according to the health ministry, a small rise from the previous day but still one of the lowest daily tolls in weeks.
But the economic cost was adding up. Economy Minister Nadia Calvino on Friday announced a forecast of a record fall in Spain’s gross domestic product (GDP) of 9.2 per cent in 2020 – greater than during the country’s Great Recession of 2008-2013.
Spain has been one the countries worst hit by the pandemic that spread across the globe from China since December.
However, the pandemic’s decline in Spain has drastically reduced the number of people admitted to hospitals – 732 new patients, according to the latest data – and authorities on Friday closed down the temporary facility set up at Madrid’s Ifema exhibition centre.
‘I thank the whole centre, from the cleaning staff to the top, they have been loving, kind to us, a human warmth,’ said 73-year-old Patrocinio Gonzalez Dorado, as she left the compound wearing a protective mask decorated with paper lips.
‘We haven’t had family here and they have served as family and support,’ said Gonzalez, who had been there since April 7.
The hospital, with 1,350 beds, was Spain’s largest during the outbreak and a symbol of the nation’s struggle. It treated about 4,000 patients, and will remain equipped and ready to reopen in the event of a new outbreak.
Another patient leaving the centre in a wheelchair was applauded by health personnel while a singer sang the ‘Nessun Dorma’ aria from the opera ‘Turandot’.
However, dozens of health workers staged a protest when Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso came to officially close the facility, demanding more tests and better protective equipment. Data shows that 41,239 health workers have tested positive for COVID-19 so far.
Pictured: Two cyclists ride next to the Guadalquivir river in Sevilla, Spain today
Unable to protest in the streets in the traditional Labour Day rallies were Spanish trade unions, prevented from gathering for the first time since the right to demonstrate was legalised in Spain in 1978.
Adapting to the restrictions, the unions called for virtual rallies on social media, demanding labour rights as potentially the worst economic crisis in Spanish history and a huge surge of unemployment loomed.
Economy Minister Calvino forecast a record fall in GDP of 9.2 per cent in 2020 but said a projected recovery in 2021 with a 6.8 per cent increase was expected. Unemployment for 2020 was forecast to rise to 19 per cent, easing to 17.2 per cent in 2021.
Beaches and hotels lie empty in a tourism sector that is one of the biggest contributors to the economy. Another driver, construction and real estate, is at a standstill after only just recovering from the 2008 financial crisis.