Because of the fast expansion of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many countries
established lockdowns, implementing different restrictions on people’s mobility. Analysing
the effectiveness of these measures is crucial to better react to similar future scenarios. This
research uses anonymous mobile phone data to study the impact of the Spanish lockdown
on the daily dynamics of the Madrid metropolitan area. The analysis is focused on a
reference week prior to the lockdown and on several weeks of the lockdown in which
different restrictions were in place. For this timeframe, population distribution is compared
during the day and at night and presence profiles are obtained throughout the day for each
type of land use. In addition, a multiple regression analysis is carried out to determine the
impact of the different land uses on the local population. The results in the reference week,
pre-COVID-19, show how the population in activity areas increases in each time slot on a
specific day and how in residential areas it decreases. However, during the lockdown,
activity areas cease to attract population during the day and the residential areas therefore no
longer show a decrease. Only basic essential commercial activities, or others that require the
presence of workers maintain some activity during lockdown.
