Children in Spain play outdoors for first time after six weeks of coronavirus lockdown
- Published
On Sunday, streets and parks in many Spanish cities filled with children for the first time in 44 days. Accompanied by adults, kids took their chance to run, play and ride their bikes or scooters. Here's dad Joan playing chase around Barcelona with his daughters Ines, aged 11, and Mar, who is nine.
Rollerskates and skateboards are allowed, but public parks remain off-limits. Bikes are allowed too and what a great view this girl has near the beach at Las Canteras!
The new lockdown conditions allow Spain's 6.3 million under-14s to leave their homes each day for a total of one hour between 9am and 9pm, but without going further than a kilometre. This is six-year-old Kilian wearing a protective face mask as he jumps from a bench.
Experts have welcomed the lifting of restrictions for smaller children, saying that even one hour outside each day can provide an important boost to their mental wellbeing and behaviour.
Spain has one of the strictest lockdown restrictions in Europe. Since 14 March, people there have not been allowed to leave their homes except to buy food, go to the pharmacy, walk their pets or go to work if they can't work from home - with punishments including large fines for breaking the rules.
The lockdown's other conditions remain in place for the moment and schools remain closed, with the government thinking about relaxing them further in the second half of May.
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