French 'Spiderman' Alain Robert: I climbed Barcelona skyscraper to tell people not to fear coronavirus

Speaking exclusively to the Evening Standard, Mr Robert revealed his motivation for climbing the building
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Brendan McFadden5 March 2020

French "Spiderman" Alain Robert said he free climbed a 144-metre tall skyscraper in Barcelona to encourage people not to fear the coronavirus outbreak.

The daredevil, who has climbed 165 building across the world without any safety equipment, told how he has been able to risk his life climbing buildings because he has "controlled his fear".

Mr Robert, 57, said he wanted people to do the same over the virus spread, after he reached the top of Agbar Tower in the Catalonian city this morning.

Speaking exclusively to the Evening Standard, Mr Robert expanded on his decision to scale the building as a protest against people panicking about the coronavirus, which has infected more than 90,000 people with upwards of 3,000 fatalities worldwide.

Alain scaled the 144-metre tall skyscraper in Barcelona without ropes
Reuters

Mr Robert said: "Fear is more contagious than the disease itself.

"I wanted to make a statement on the coronavirus. I realised that over the past few days people have really started to freak out. They are really fearing the coronavirus. There is only about 100,000 people that are infected and there is 7 billion people on the planet and half of those people are freaking out."

He also hit out at "fake news" raising concerns of the virus.

"People are freaking out for something that they don't know what it is. There is a lot of fake news too and people are afraid of that," Mr Roberts said.

"I am climbing buildings and mountains and I am not using safety devices. I can handle my fear. I would deeply encourage people to behave like that too."

Alain Robert told how he scaled the skyscraper to send a message to the world that the coronavirus should not be feared  
Reuters

Mr Robert spoke of his fear that the virus outbreak could have a dent in the world economy if people isolate on a mass scale.

"I think people are going to freak out and maybe live in bunkers," he said.

"If people keep living this way, it is going to be the biggest economic crisis that the world has ever seen."

Detailing his climb, Mr Robert was made more difficult as he had to scale back down the building again after reaching the top because there was no doors or windows at the top to allow him to get inside.

Alain doesn't believe the coronavirus should be feared because 'it's just a strong flu which predominantly affects the elderly'
Reuters

Photos from the scene show Mr Robert being led away by police after returning to the ground.

He said he was taken to a police station for questioning and said officers asked him about his climb but did not press charges and released him.

The climber previously tried to climb The Shard by London Bridge, but a court order prevented him from scaling the building.

Mr Roberts comments about the virus comes as infectious disease expert Professor Neil Ferguson today said, that the world has "lost the battle to stop Covid-19'"spreading.

Professor Ferguson conceded: “You can see from the statistics, the number of countries affected, that that battle is really over.”

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