Spain: German couple arrested for locking up their children

The Spanish police rescued three children on Wednesday who were locked up by a German couple at a house described by the police as the "house of horror," in the northern Spanish city of Oviedo since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The children, 8-year-old twins boys and a 10-year-old boy, had not left the house since December 2021, said the Police Spokesperson according to the Spanish newspaper La Nueva España.

"The parents were arrested... and the children were placed in a care home," it added.

Chief Superintendent Francisco Javier Lozano described the house where the children were traped as a "house of horror," said La Nueva España.

In what conditions were the children found?

According to the Spanish media, police said the house was "completely filled with trash."

The children were not allowed into the garden of the house and while inside, they slept in caged beds. They were cut off from contact with the outside world.

A neighbour had noticed that the children did not go to school and alerted the police, but no action was taken.

The parents forced the kids to wear diapers and face masks, the local newspaper reported. A large quantity of medication was also found inside the house.

"As soon as we got them out, all three began to take deep breaths as if they had never been in the fresh air before," a Spanish official told La Nueva España.

What do we know about the parents?

During the massive power outage in Spain on Monday, the Spanish police visited the house and the parents demanded the officers wear face masks, the local media reported.

The municipal police found "sufficient evidence of criminality" based on the deplorable conditions the children were living in.

The couple were a 53-year-old German man and a 48-year-old woman holding dual German and American citizenship. Since October 2021, they have been renting the single-family home on the outskirts of the city.

According to local media, the Spanish officials did not disclose the family's origin in Germany and why they had chosen to isolate their children from the outside world.