Coronavirus in Spain leaves ex-Hearts man Ruben Palazuelos running around the garden to stay fit

Former Hearts midfielder Ruben Palazuelos is trying to stay fit in Spain.

Ruben Palazuelos turns 37 this month and is running around the garden of his Santander home like a madman. The coronavirus lockdown is strict in Spain with more than 10,000 deaths caused by the disease across the country. For a veteran footballer, it makes the battle to stay fit and keep muscles supple extremely challenging.

The former Hearts midfielder now plays in the Tercera Division, the third tier of Spanish football, with Gimnastica de Torrelavega. He does not intend retiring for another two years and is desperately trying to prolong his career. That means daily shuttle runs out the back, dribbling with the ball, and exercises to keep himself in the best possible shape.

"I hope I can play two years more and then retire because my physical condition is good," said Palazuelos in an exclusive Evening News interview. "I am not injured a lot but I have to keep fit more than other younger players. If I don't train or play for a long time, then when I go back on the pitch it is difficult.

"I am training here at home every day. I am lucky because I have a garden. I do running, I train with the ball and without the ball. Our physical trainer gives me a routine I must do in the garden every day. I can do different things. It's not like training in the stadium but I train every day and I feel good.

Another pre-season

"At least I can do things in my garden that maybe some other players can't do in their apartments. When we go back, I think we will need to do another small pre-season before the matches start again. That might take two or three weeks.

"We have to train at home until the Government say we can go out. I hope we come back to our normal life soon and begin our routines every day again. People here say maybe in May we will be back training and start the league again at the end of May.

"I play in the third level in Spain and we have ten games left, then we have the play-offs for promotion. Our season will finish later than other countries. Maybe we will finish in August. I don't know. England have stopped until June, Olympic Games are off, Wimbledon off, Euros off. I can't imagine they will be too interested in the third level of football in Spain.

"The most important thing is everybody stays home and no more people die. We don't want more people infected. Football just now is secondary. I will have to celebrate my birthday at home but that's not important. People's health is important."

Pay cuts

The Spanish Government will pay between 50 and 70 per cent of salaries, with the rest made up by employers. This helps football during the pandemic but Spanish players will not avoid wage cutss.

"Players are having to cut their salary in other countries," acknowledged Palazuelos, who spent three and a half years at Tynecastle Park between 2007 and 2011. "My club does not pay the same money as in Scotland or at the top level in other countries.

"Of course we have to help the club because we are not playing. There is no money going into the club so we have to do something. Barcelona and Real Madrid have a lot of money, but at this level it is not the same money. Some players don't have contract with their club after June, so what happens if the season is still going in July?"

That is one of many unanswered questions to arise since football was forced into an indefinite shutdown last month. Like in the United Kingdom, many Spaniards are unhappy at the time it took their authorities to impose a nationwide lockdown. The cost has been thousands upon thousands of lives.

"In Santander, there are not many people infected with coronavirus and not many deaths," explained Palazuelos. "I think in Madrid 4,000 or 5,000 people died, the same in Catalonia, and Andalucia is another area with a lot of deaths. In Cantabria, my region, there are not so many and we are thankful for this.

Anger

"The Spanish people are angry with the Government because we don't understand why this happened. It is 2020. We knew this was coming. We saw what was happening in China and here we did nothing - just wait and wait and wait. Now look at the situation.

"People are angry because they stay at home with no work and no money. It's a very bad situation. After Italy, Spain is the worst country in Europe for people dying and people infected. There is nothing we can do. We have to stay home. We can only go out to go to a supermarket or pharmacy.

"Before, people did not worry when the Government said: 'Please stay at home for two weeks.' I would see people taking the car out and not care. Now the police have to control this. They have issued 200,000 or 300,000 penalties to people in the street.

"Now the public are scared, especially old people and people with health problems. The situation in Spain is very bad but I hope we can recover soon."

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