A Spanish extreme sportswoman returned to the open air on Friday morning after having spent a total of 500 days in two stages in a natural cave, cut off from the world at a depth of 70 meters.
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Beatriz Flamini, 50, who came to the surface with the help of cavers, said she descended on November 21, 2021 into this cavity located some 10 km from Motril, a small town in southern Andalusia ( southern region of Spain), i.e. a total of 508 days if we exclude the two days of the descent and the ascent.
But according to several Spanish media, including the daily El País, Ms. Flamini had to interrupt this experiment and go back to the surface for about a week for reasons relating to her safety, before descending into this cave.
AFP was not able to obtain confirmation from the athlete or his entourage, but in statements to one of these media, she admitted to having gone up, claiming to have spent this period of time alone and in isolation.
His stay in this cavity in the Andalusian sierra was part of a scientific experiment intended to assess the physical and mental impact of total isolation and a loss of long-term temporal landmarks.
During a press conference organized in Motril about two hours after her final exit from the cellar, Beatriz Flamini, who apologized several times for her difficulties in finding her words, explained that she simply had books, artificial light and cameras to record her experience, but she had no phone or device to tell the time or the day of the year.
“Challenges of this kind, there have been many, but none with all the characteristics of this one: alone and in total isolation, without contact with the outside, without (natural) light, without reference to time” , commented David Reyes, member of the Andalusian Speleology Federation, who was in charge of the athlete’s safety.
For his part, the Spanish Minister of Tourism, Héctor Gómez, praised, in an interview with Spanish public television (TVE), the performance of the athlete, describing “a manifestation of extreme resistance”.