Schedule for sports, walks, and time intervals when you can go outside: children, non-professional athletes and the elderly.

Do you know the time slots and restrictions to do sport or go for a walk with your children? The Covid-19 crisis has brought with it significant social restrictions. Now that the health crisis is gradually overcome, social restrictions are relaxed, allowing walks and individual non-professional physical activities, separating the population by age and time bands.

Do you know the time slots and restrictions for doing sports and taking walks with your children?

The evolution of the Covid-19 health crisis, and how it is affecting our personal life and economic evolution in Spain, forces the Government to take measures to make the current confinement and restrictions more flexible. To this end, the Order clarifying the way in which people aged 14 years or over can resume physical activity – non-professional – outdoors: non-professional performance of sports activities without contact has been published today, May 1 , as well as daily walks.

Of special interest are the time slots and ages of people who can go for a walk or play sports, which we summarise in the following image, and which come into force from 0:00 on Saturday, May 2, 2020, and as long as the alarm state continues:

It is important to know the allowed time slots and requisites to practice sport or go out for a walk, depending on your age.

Why are these flexibility measures being taken?

The Spanish Government affirms that the practice of physical activity and the reduction of sedentary lifestyle are factors that have a positive impact on people’s health, preventing chronic diseases and increasing the quality and life expectancy.

Likewise, the Spanish Government bases this decision on the fact that, in the older adult population, sport and physical activity outdoors help to maintain adequate physical functionality, decrease the risk of falls and preserve cognitive functions. However, this Order does not contemplate the practice of physical activity in social health centers for the elderly.

Are agglomerations contemplated with this new government decision? Use of time slots.

No, the Government has taken into account the need to avoid crowds, giving priority to those who walk and bike, with that order of precedence. In addition, the Government has established different intervals or slots for the practice of physical activities, depending on the age of people.

The practice of non-professional sport is now allowed in public areas.

What movements does the Government allow with this new Order?

• The practice of individual, non-professional sport is permitted for people aged 14 years or over, without contact with third parties, as well as walks. These activities can be carried out once a day, and according to prefixed time slots.
• Walks can be given accompanied by another person with whom you live. Or, in the case of dependent people, accompanied by a household employee or regular caregiver.
• Sport can only be done individually, without contact with other people. If you are a dependent person when doing physical activity, you can do it accompanied by another person with whom you live, or by a domestic worker or regular caregiver.
• Walks can be carried out at a distance of no more than 1 km from the home. But non-professional, individual sport can be carried out at any distance within the municipality where people reside.
• If you have symptoms of Covid-19, or you are in home isolation or in quarantine for having had contact with someone with symptoms or diagnosed with Coronavirus, or if you are a resident in a social health center, you will not be able to take walks or practice non-professional sports on outdoor public areas.

What requirements does the Government contemplate to avoid contagions with these new flexibility measures?

• To maintain a distance of at least 2 meters between people when walking or doing physical activities. Only within the time slots allowed according to every age segment.
• To avoid crowded spaces.
• To perform the permitted physical activity continuously, avoiding unnecessary stops in public spaces. In case of stopping, do so only for the time strictly necessary.
• To give priority to those who walk and bike, in that order.

What are the areas allowed to walk or practice non-professional sport with this new government order?

• Any road or outdoor public area, including authorized natural and green areas.
• Access to closed sports facilities is not allowed
• Motorized vehicles or public transport can not be used to commute in order to practice the physical activity provided for in this Order.

If you have any questions about the indications and recommendations of this new governmental Order, do not hesitate to contact the Pérez Parras Economists and Lawyers Firm to clarify your legal questions.