MADRID
Outdoor amateur sports activities have increased in the Spanish capital Madrid during the coronavirus pandemic.
In Madrid, one of the capitals most affected by COVID-19 in Europe, the famous Retiro Park in the city center was filled with people doing sports as spring approaches.
Rafa, who is doing amateur boxing with his friend in the park, told Anadolu Agency: “Gyms are open, but there are very serious restrictions. We wanted to do our training here today, taking advantage of the beautiful weather. We are much more comfortable outdoors.”
“Of course, we missed the environment of gyms and workouts. The motivation of working in the hall is much different, but under COVID-19 conditions, outdoors is safer,” he added.
Lourdes, who has been giving sports lessons to 12 women over the age of 70 in the park, said she used to visit nursing homes for sports lessons to the elderly people before the pandemic, but it had been prohibited in the past year.
“We have been doing our classes outdoors for about a month now,” she said, adding going back to these outdoor activities is really good.
“It has been a very difficult year, we missed going out and doing sports,” said Pilar, 73.
“You can do nothing at home. That’s why I wanted to come here. It is a very nice feeling to do sports here, to see my friends. The hardest thing is to do sports by wearing a mask. It is suffocating, but we got used to it,” Pilar added.
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