A Spanish woman spent 500 days in an underground cave – a record
“I stood still on November 21, 2021. I don’t know anything about what happened afterwards in the world”. After 509 days, the Spanish mountaineer Beatriz Flamini emerged from the Los Gauchos cave in the province of Granada. One year, four months and 22 days without any contact with the outside world, while war broke out in Ukraine outside and Queen Elizabeth died.
“I stopped counting what day I was on the 65th, according to my calculations,” said the 50-year-old from Madrid who participated in the Timecave project, created to study the human capacity for resistance in similar conditions. During the time spent at a depth of 70 meters and in complete isolation, Flamini said she devoted herself to reading, writing, drawing and weaving. “I had internal conversations and got along really well with myself,” said the woman, who consumed a total of 1,000 liters of water. “When they came to get me, I was sleeping. I thought something was up. I said, ‘Already? I hadn’t finished my book yet’,” she said.
According to the team that followed her, the 509 days spent by Flamini underground represent a world record, which is waiting to be confirmed by the Guinness Book of Records. The stay was interrupted for 8 days due to technical problems with the router with which she sent information to those following her from outside. Flamini spent this time in a tent set up next to the cave, with no contact with the outside world. His feat will be told in a documentary produced by the Spanish Dokumalia.
