A Spanish athlete voluntarily spent 500 days alone in a cave to conduct a scientific experiment

She saw the light again. Beatriz Flamini, the 50-year-old Spanish athlete, returned to the outdoors on the morning of Friday, April 14, after spending a total of 500 days in a natural cave, cut off from the world at a depth of 70 meters. I descended on November 21, 2021 in this cavity located about 10 kilometers from Motril, a small town in the south of Andalusia, I climbed to the surface with the help of speleologists, a total of 508 days if we exclude two days of descent and ascent.

According to several Spanish media, including the daily newspaper El PaisFor her safety reasons, she had to interrupt this experiment and return to the surface for about a week, before returning to this cave. She admitted that she regrouped, claiming that she spent this period of time alone. His stay in this hollow in the Andalusian Sierra was part of a scientific experiment aimed at assessing the physical and mental impact of complete isolation and loss of long-term temporal landmarks.

“strong resistance demonstration”

She explained in a press conference after her release that she simply had books, artificial light, and cameras to record her experience, but did not have a phone or device to tell the hour or day of the year. “Challenges of this kind were many, but none with all the characteristics of this challenge: alone and in complete solitude, without contact with the outside, without (natural) light, without reference to time.”commented David Reyes, a member of the Andalusian Speleological Federation, which was responsible for the safety of the athletes.

Spanish Tourism Minister Hector Gomez, in an interview with Public Television (TVE), praised the athlete’s performance, describing “strong resistance demonstration”.