After 50 days of one of the world's strictest lockdowns, a run made me deliriously happy

On the weekend, the people of Spain were allowed out to exercise for the first time since March 13. That banging noise you may have heard in Australia was 47 million people from the Pyrenees to the enclaves of North Africa slamming their front doors shut and running out into the street.

I headed straight to Parc del Guinardó, nearly 16 hectares of urban woodland, mainly pines, cedars and holly oaks, that at its top affords stunning views over Barcelona and the Mediterranean. I have the good fortune to live near the bottom of the park.

Runners on a seafront promenade in Barcelona on the first weekend the lockdown was eased for exercise.Credit: AP

As I headed up the hill to its entrance, I could see spots of colour on the roads as my neighbours spilled out of their flats and made their way towards the park, ants in bright activewear.

Before COVID-19 took such a terrible grip on the country, few of us here believed the Spanish would accept a Wuhan-style confinement. This is a land where the people love to throng together, at festivals, outdoor cafes and evening strolls in the streets. I remember watching the news and thinking how different Chinese society must be to put up with it.

Even when I heard the reports the virus was in Italy, or my gym started checking temperatures before we could enter, I still didn’t see us spending 50 days stuck indoors or abiding by the rules of one of the toughest lockdowns in the world. But hundreds of deaths announced each day on the news, and friends and relatives (relatively young, no underlying health conditions) ending up in hospital has a way of centring your attention on what matters.

Lockdown for my family has meant five people living in a 90-square metre apartment. As much as I wanted to exercise, I didn't because I didn't want to disturb my downstairs neighbour, but around me others did what they could. One man with the tiniest balcony somehow squeezed an exercise bike onto it and rode it for an hour every day. Neighbours walked up and down their rooftops.

I reached the park and swung my leg over the chain at the entrance. I was deliriously happy at the prospect of going for a run. Ceremoniously clicking play on my phone, the first electro-synth beats of the Pet Shop Boys’ Always On My Mind burst out. What great luck! What a fine song to run to on the trails of my favourite nature spot.

The park was buzzing, the mood euphoric. A woman in front of me saw a man coming down the track towards us and waved. They looked so happy to see each other they were practically bouncing on the spot (but they kept up a safe distance and just blew kisses from under their masks!).

I ran my permitted one hour and came home, face red, legs aching, but feeling more cheerful and optimistic than in weeks. Truly I have never been so happy to have chafed thighs!

Lynda Trevitt is an English-language translator living in Barcelona.