Three German children have been rescued from a “horror house” in Spain where they had allegedly been forced to live under a severe covid lockdown by their parents. The adults at the property were arrested by Spanish police after allegedly forcing their children to remain inside and wear facemasks and nappies in the property, despite covid restrictions ending in 2022.

One investigator described how the children reacted when taken outside, something they seemed amazed to be able to do. They told local media: “As soon as we got them out, all three children began to breathe deeply, as if they had never been outside before.” It is understood that the parents suffered from “covid syndrome” and had lived in fear of the virus since its outbreak in 2020.

The investigator added: “We have all been affected by Covid syndrome and the consequences of the pandemic. We can reflect on what led a family to live in confinement for so long.”

Another told El Mundo: "The children were in terrible shape. It was absolutely outrageous.

“Not malnourished, because they were fed. But they were also dirty and completely cut off from reality, and not just because they didn't go to school.

“When we took them out of the house, into the garden, where they wouldn't even go outside, they saw a snail and went crazy, freaked out."

Neighbours described the family as “reclusive”, claiming that they never left the house and had food delivered as if covid restrictions were still in place.

The family were living in the northern Spanish town of Oviedo and was described by German newspaper Die Welt as a “horror house”.

The parents are understood to have demanded that police wear face masks before entering the property and while they remained inside.

After gaining entry, officers discovered piles of rubbish, a large supply of PPE and medical equipment as well as a seriously ill cat who was not taken to the vets due to fears that the family would catch the virus as a result.

The children, eight-year-old twins and a ten-year-old have not been attending school since the self-enforced restrictions were placed on them in 2021 and as such, investigators were forced to communicate with them in English due to their inability to speak Spanish.

The parents, identified as a 53-year-old German man and his 48-year-old American wife, who also owned a German passport, were arrested and charged with domestic violence with habitual psychological abuse and child abandonment, according to police.