About 40,000 young people celebrated in Barcelona over the weekend in the open air. Then the mega party got out of hand.
Barcelona – A huge party of young people on the sidelines of the city festival La Mercè in the Catalan capital Barcelona has escalated completely. 40,000 young people celebrated peacefully in the open air, but then the situation got out of hand, as reported by the Spanish media. According to El Pais , the situation escalated around 3 a.m. Bottles were thrown at police officers, there were sometimes violent fights with knives and broken bottles. 34 people and five police officers were injured. There have been 22 arrests. The authorities are also investigating sexual assault.
A small group of young people set fire to cars, motorbikes, smashed bus stops, the windows of two shops and the facade of the Palacio de Kongresse. As the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia reported on Sunday, it was “violence for the sake of violence”. There were no political demands.
Barcelona – party out of control
In Barcelona, as in all of Catalonia, only clubs with a terrace are allowed to open. In Barcelona there are around a dozen. For example, party-goers use the La Mercè city festival, which is held in honor of the city’s patroness La Mercè (on September 24th), to party. Security forces were overwhelmed by the sheer mass of people. There were also several outdoor parties on Sunday night, but with less violence.
Outdoor parties with alcohol – so-called “botellones” – are prohibited in Spain. These drinking bouts are considered super spreader events *. There is a threat of a fine. The juveniles are apparently hardly deterred by the punishments at the moment. The corona situation in Spain is currently very relaxed, the number of new infections is low, the situation in the hospitals has calmed down and the vaccination campaign is well advanced. Here you will find an overview of the current corona numbers *. (ml with material from dpa) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
