Authorities in northwestern Spain have rescued three siblings 10-year-old and 8-year-old twins who were allegedly confined indoors by their parents for over three years, continuing extreme COVID-era lockdown measures long after restrictions had lifted.
The children were found in the Fitora-Toleo area of Oviedo and removed from the home earlier this week. Investigators said the siblings had been isolated since 2021, only permitted outside while masked, and had no access to school or the outside world.
“They were amazed by simple things like grass and snails,” an investigator told El Mundo. “It was as if they were seeing the world for the first time.”
Though not malnourished, officials described the children as dirty, socially withdrawn, and in poor physical condition.
Their parents a 48-year-old woman with dual German-American nationality and a 53-year-old German man were arrested and charged with child abandonment and domestic abuse. Authorities suspect the pair may have been suffering from “COVID syndrome,” a psychological condition marked by extreme, lingering fear of infection.
