Walkers and joggers flock to streets but without major crowds

Walkers and joggers flocked to the streets, boulevards, beaches and natural areas on Saturday morning to enjoy the first day of relaxation of lockdown for all population.

The set time slots arranged by the Spanish government – after Catalonia and other territories requested it – meant that healthy people aged 14 to 70 could go for a walk not further than 1km away from home or do exercise within their town from 6am to 10am.

Thousands of people going for a stroll, jogging or riding a bike could be seen from the early morning, making the most of the slot.

Although some areas were busy during the morning, the crowds were not as significant as those seen last Sunday, the first day children under 14 were allowed out accompanied by adults – but since there were no time slots set, a large number of people was seen in the early afternoon in certain urban areas.

On Saturday, the majority of the people leaving the house respected the safety measures, as far as Catalan News has witnessed or seen with footage from across the country. No major incidents were reported by the authorities.

Collserola natural park, busy

One of the areas most crowded was Collserola natural park, in Barcelona's northern part, which was surveilled by some police officers. The carretera de les Aigües was one of the busiest areas, but only until 10am, when the whole area emptied – from 10am, sport is no longer permitted until the next time slot, 8pm.

Elsewhere, in several coast towns like Badalona and Altafulla, the seafront and beach was quite crowded, and in the inland, in Lleida, the boulevard by the Segre river was unusually busy. Yet, as everywhere in Catalonia, at 10am almost all walkers and joggers vanished.

In the Empordà area, north of the country, people flocked to natural areas, like the Gavarres massif, while villages did not see large numbers of people.

From 10 to 12, it was time for elderly people over 70 and dependent people to leave the house, but no crowds were seen.

From noon, children and their accompanying adults were the ones allowed out – yet, the crowds seen last Sunday did not repeat for instance in one of the key areas in Barcelona, Arc de Triomf.