Spain organized its first massive concert in a pandemic: 5,000 people without social distancing

Five thousand fans took part in a rock concert in Barcelona this Saturday, after undergoing instant COVID-19 tests, proving its effectiveness for prevent coronavirus outbreaks at major public events.

“It will be a unique night, enjoy it”Said a presenter minutes before the performance of Lesbian love, one of the main groups in the Spanish music scene.

Indeed, the group has obtained special authorization from the health authorities. Even if the rest of the country is limited to congregations of no more than four people inside, the concert participants interacted freely.

Massive testing, FFP2 masks for all participants and advanced ventilation made a party possible, an exception in a Europe almost completely closed by pandemic restrictions.

“I am very, very excited. It’s been a year and a half since we last set foot on a stage and someone is already crying here, ”shouted band frontman Santi Balmes after the first song, conveniently titled“ No one in the streets ”.

Euphoria and emotion shared by the public.

“It’s amazing, very exciting. We had forgotten this feeling of the people, it’s like it was my first concert “, Jordi Sanz recognized from the Sant Jordi track, the only area occupied since the stands were left empty.

“I really wanted to do something different, take a step towards normality“Said Marina Crespo, 25, who, despite the security measures, preferred “Keep your distance”, “be a little apart”.

Still, the feeling was one of a pre-pandemic global journey: spectators jumping, dancing, hugging, singing songs at the top of their lungs, or even drinking beer in bars.

But behind the event jointly promoted by a group of festivals and musical promoters and a hospital in the region, lies a device which, according to its organizers, makes it a safer space than a private home.

The morning, the dance floors of three Barcelona nightclubs, closed for months, have been converted into makeshift field hospitals with several white tents and blue nurses doing antigen tests whose results came back within ten minutes.

If they gave a negative result, the entry recorded in a mobile application was already validated. Once inside the enclosure, equipped with an advanced ventilation system, everyone must wear masks FFP2 constantly.

“We hope it is completely safe. Over the next 14 days, we’ll see how many participants were diagnosed with covid and let us know.», Explained Josep Maria Llibre, doctor of the German hospital Trias i Pujol in Badalona, ​​near Barcelona.

People with heart problems, cancer, or who have been in contact with an infected person in the past few weeks were not eligible to participate.

One of the data was age; The calendar available to register begins in March 2003, the 18 years mark the minimum age of the test. The maximum is 65, but the calendar does not reach 1956, stopping in March 1957.

The organizers claimed that it is the first commercial event of this magnitude organized in Europe during the pandemic.

In addition, all tickets have been sold. Tickets, the price of which varied from 23 to 28 euros (27 to 33 dollars), included the cost of the test and the high-quality mask, the use of which was mandatory, except for eating or drinking in designated areas.

The show is supported by local authorities and experts from the Barcelona-based Foundation for the Fight against AIDS and Infectious Diseases, which organized a similar study at a concert with 500 people in December.

They claimed that The results of this preliminary case showed that antigen testing and the use of masks were effective in preventing infections within the gig, despite the lack of social distancing rules.

With the exception of a few acoustic concerts in Galicia and Menorca, the group Love Of Lesbian hadn’t acted seriously since October 28, 2019.

The goal is “to find out how we can live with covid and play concerts safely”Ventura Barba, executive director of Barcelona’s Sónar festival, one of the organizers, told AFP.

“We hope this is a turning point.”

According to a report published by the Spanish Music Federation, the European music industry lost 76% of its turnover in 2020.

“It’s a way to start making a hole in this tunnel and that the world of culture sees a little light or, at least, a possible way of doing things “, yesterday recognized the leader of Love of Lesbian, Santi Balmes, at the AFP.

The pandemic forced them delay the launch of their last job by eight months, but they feel lucky compared to colleagues in the industry who are “having a really bad time and boxes of food are coming because nothing is coming in. “

Especially after this concert and the response from the audience, which sold out in just a few hours. “It was an energy shock, but it makes sense, we are in a period of confinement, with the handbrake engaged. We must unload ourselves, take back our old lives ”, said Balmes.

With information from the AP and AFP

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