Spanish Athlete Spent 500 Days In An Underground Cave In The Name Of Science

Smiling as she exited the 70m deep cavern just outside Granada that had been her home for the past 500 days, Beatriz Flamini was given a once-over by medical professionals before being whisked away to a press conference.

‘I was expecting to come out and have a shower,’ Flamini said to reporters. ‘I wasn’t expecting there to be so much interest.’

Flamini entered the cave on Saturday 20th November 2021. Monitored by a group of scientists, psychologists, and cave specialists from the universities of Almería, Granada and Murcia who would keep in touch through limited messaging, the aim of Flamini’s subterranean endeavour was to find out more about how the human mind and body can deal with extreme solitude and deprivation, and their effects on brain patterns, sleep and circadian rhythms.

No stranger to extremes and feats of endurance, the 50 year-old (who was 48 at the time of entering the cave), is a mountaineer and athlete, and now is thought to hold the world record for the longest time spent alone in a cave.

Flamini spent her days underground exercising, drawing, reading, writing, knitting and documenting her experiences on camera for research purposes and a film that will be produced about the experiment.

‘For me at least, as an elite extreme sportswoman, the most important thing is being very clear and consistent about what you think and what you feel and what you say,’ Flamini told the press. ‘It’s true that there were some difficult moments, but there were also some very beautiful moments – and I had both as I lived up to my commitment to living in a cave for 500 days.’

When asked if she talked to herself during her stint in the cave, Flamini replied that she had, but never out loud. ‘I got on very well with myself,’ she laughed.