'We're going out!': Spanish kids reclaim streets after weeks indoors
27 April, 2020
After six weeks stuck at home, Spain's children were allowed out Sunday to perform, play or get a walk as the government eased one of the world's toughest coronavirus lockdowns.
Spain is one of the hardest hit countries, with a death toll running at a lot more than 23,000, putting it behind only america and Italy despite stringent restrictions imposed from March 14.
But unlike other countries, Spain's children were kept indoors, with only adults allowed to leave the house to get food, medicine, briefly walk the dog or seek urgent medical care.
On Sunday, Spanish children took to the streets of Madrid to take pleasure from their newfound freedom.
Some rollerbladed while some rode bikes or pushed toy prams around, many wearing small masks to cover their faces.
"It's been very good for me to get out," said six-year-old Ricardo after a runaround in Madrid with his younger sister.
"We played hide and seek, we raced. We found a ladybug that was lost and we put it in among the ants."
Some parents took precautions, dressing their kids with protective gear prior to going out.
"They're all properly built with masks and gloves," said Miguel Lopez, father of two children aged six and three, and who lives in an apartment in northwest Madrid.
"It's like a day trip for them, it is the most interesting thing for them in a month," Lopez told AFP.
'Super excited'
Alvaro Paredes, seven, and his brother Javier, four, were just getting ready for his or her big adventure.
"We are going to go out within an hour's time, going in regards to a kilometer on scooter or bicycle to do a tour around our neighborhood," their mother Inmaculada Paredes said.
"They are super excited, very, very impatient. These were up at 6:30 am, saying 'We're venturing out, We're venturing out!'," she said.
From Sunday no more than three children under 14 years will be able to venture out once a day, for just one hour between 9:00 am (0700 GMT) and 9:00 pm, accompanied by one parent -- no beyond one kilometer from their house.
Health Minister Salvador Illa on Friday said it might be "an initial step towards easing" the lockdown after earlier insisting that people be very prudent "as the health of the country is at stake".
The restriction on children had come under increasing criticism in Spain, with professionnals warning of the danger it posed because of their health insurance and mental wellbeing.
Last week among Spain's deputy prime ministers Pablo Iglesias apologized for keeping them at home for six weeks, acknowledging it was "never easy" for them and saying many thanks.
'Common sense'
The government's initial intend to allow children to accompany adults only on their rare authorized trips, for instance to supermarkets, satisfied no-one and prompted a hasty retreat.
"All our common sense tells us that it's safe for the children," said mother Paredes.
"If I can go to a supermarket, which can be an enclosed space, then taking a walk [in the open] has got to be safer."
For both her and Miguel Lopez, this easing of the rules would have been welcome earlier however they understand the caution of the authorities, desperate to avoid any resurgence of the disease.
"Many people have been really irresponsible," Lopez said.
"Those same persons who went off to their country houses despite all of the warnings, they might have flooded onto the beaches and in to the parks if the kids had been allowed out earlier."
"I believe they could did this sooner perhaps but it is true that persons in Spain, in Madrid, have not been very good about it," said Paredes.
Your choice was made as Spain seemed to have got at night peak of the pandemic, reporting Sunday a daily death toll of 288, the cheapest number since March 20.
All Spaniards will be allowed out for exercise and to take walks from next weekend, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Saturday.
The federal government will on Tuesday unveil its broader lockdown exit plan that may likely be apply in the second half of May, he added.
Source: www.thejakartapost.com
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