The government has released the first data on mobility, collected while in a state of alarm, through two studies based on big data technology. On the one hand, there is DataCOVID, promoted by the Secretary of State for Digitization and Artificial Intelligence (Secretary of State for Digitization and Artificial Intelligence, SEDIA) and the Ministry of Economic Accounts and Digital Transformation; and on the other hand, a study carried out by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda (Mitma) through the displacement analysis tool.

Both studies use big data technology to provide an increasingly complete picture. The aim is to help make effective decisions in the field of mobility in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
A tool for studying the mobility of mitma

In 2018, Mitma carried out a study on the use of big data technology for the definition and quantification of inter-provincial mobility in Spain. This experience is currently being leveraged to be a characterization of mobility at the national level, as well as in the autonomous, provincial and local communities. The research is being carried out with the support of the technology company Nommon and will serve as a support for the monitoring of the evolution of COVID-19.

When analyzing a large sample, the location of mobile phones is used as the main source of data, in compliance with the Personal Data Protection Act, with the guarantee of digital rights. The information available on a daily basis corresponds to the actual mobility data for the previous three days. This is the time required for the availability and processing of information.

This study updates the data from March 1st. In this regard, it is noteworthy that the results of this study, compared to a week before the crisis began, for example from 14 to 20 February 2020, show that mobility has been significantly reduced since the state of the alarm.

The information for 10 April shows that there has been a significant drop in displacement in general, with 91% in the Community of Madrid and 84% in Catalonia in particular. It is also noticeable that mobility is almost the same over the weekend and on weekdays and that 31.5 million people have not made a route of more than 500 meters during the alarm state.

DataCOVID research results

SEDIA, in collaboration with the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), is using big data to analyze the number of anonymous and attached location data on mobile devices. In this way, DataCOVID focuses on the study of citizen mobility, both daily from 16 March and daily from 31 March.
The results show that 85% of citizens have not moved from their area of ​​residence to other places since the state of alarm was declared. This figure rose to 90% when the recoverable paid permit came into force. The complete data have already been made available to the Autonomous Communities. They are being used in Andalusia, the Community of Madrid, Catalonia, the Basque Country, the Community of Valencia, Galicia, Asturias, La Rioja, Extremadura, Aragon and Castilla y León.
The study will cover the entire national territory, dividing Spain into 3,200 mobility areas, identifying them in groups of countries with a population of between 5,000 and 50,000. This way, a total sample of more than 40 million mobile phones will be obtained.