The Island Council Shares Its Protocols for Reviving Sports After the Covid-19 Pandemic

The Tenerife Island Council has explained to a group of Mexican university students the protocols the island has implemented to resume sports activities following the end of the state of emergency declared by the Spanish government due to COVID-19. The island’s Director of Sports, Laura Castro, shared Tenerife’s experience in ensuring the safety of athletes and users at sports facilities following their reopening after the most critical months of the pandemic during a virtual lecture given to students at the Center for Mexican Studies (CEU).

“We have focused particularly on turning our facilities into healthy sports spaces because the most important thing for us has always been to ensure people’s health,” explained the island’s director of sports during her remarks.

Laura Castro cited the Tenerife Athletics Center (CIAT), managed by the public company Ideco, which was the first facility of its kind in the Canary Islands and one of the first in Spain to resume sports activities after weeks of intensive work to adapt the facility to the protocols established by health authorities.

“First, we opened the facility to federation-affiliated athletes, with very strict rules for use and conduct that ensured the safety of both the athletes and our staff,” said Castro, who also mentioned other important requirements during the first phase of reopening, such as advance appointments and time slots to comply with capacity limits and social distancing.

“CIAT is now open, with all safety protocols in place for all users, and we’ve even organized a summer camp in July for boys and girls ages 5 to 13, allowing them to enjoy outdoor sports and recreational activities with all necessary safety measures in place.”

The island’s director of sports also explained that during the lockdown decreed by the Spanish government, the Espacio DXT Salud was launched—a professional-led virtual platform designed to promote physical activity and sports from home. “This project has worked very well, and after three months it had nearly 200,000 views. Now, not only are we keeping it active, but we’ve also expanded it so that the content is tailored to different segments of the population and the goals of each user.”

Finally, Laura Castro emphasized the need to “support sports and our athletes more than ever.” In this regard, she announced that the Cabildo is offering five grant and aid programs totaling 1.7 million euros for athletes, clubs, and federations.