The group were found to have disobeyed the national lockdown to go play with a ball on a sports court in the town of Güímar.
The men then posted a picture of them all together along with the hashtag “#yomequedoenlacalle (I stay on the street) as opposed to the #yomequedoencasa (I stay at home) hashtag which is being used by authorities to urge people to follow the lockdown procedures.
The five men faced a fine roughly between $650 $33,000 for breaking the national lockdown.
Cándido Gómez, the town’s security councilman, told Diario de Avisos that he doesn’t believe the group were fined more than $650. Gomez also praised the actions of those adhering to the lockdown.
“The behavior of the locals is being very correct in these difficult circumstances,” he said.
Spain has implemented some of the strictest lockdown procedures in the world as it hopes to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak, including prohibiting people from being out on the streets unless they are going to work, shopping, or walking their dog.
According to Johns Hopkins University, Spain has the fourth highest number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the world with 11,826 and 533 deaths. A total of 1,028 have recovered from the virus.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez confirmed on March 14 that Spain will undertake extreme measures to help prevent the spread of the virus, including the closure of its schools and its borders.
“The measures that we are going to adopt are drastic and will have consequences,” Sanchez said. “Our mission and determination is to protect Spanish lives and beat the virus.”
Sanchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, previously tested positive for COVID-19.
Earlier this week, Spanish police reminded people to stay indoors while posting to Twitter footage of a resident in Murcia walking through the streets wearing a T-rex costume. The clip, which has since been viewed more than 4.2 million times, was edited to include the Jurassic Park soundtrack.
“During state of alarm, walking of pets is allowed if accompanied by one person, always short walks so they can relieve themselves,” Murcia Police wrote in a message on Twitter. “Having a Tyrannosaurus rex is not covered. #stayathome.”
This graph, provided by Statista, shows the confirmed cases of COVID-19 around the world, as of March 17.
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