Naive purpose to try to channel a party that spreads through all the corners of the evening as it happens for the festival of Sant Joan. Hardly had the last sun of spring set when the crowds had already thrown themselves into the Beaches of Barcelona to greet the summerwithout corsets: few free spaces could be guessed in which to camp as soon as nightfall on the coastline that bathes the center of the capital, between the beaches of Sant Sebastia and that of somorrostro.
The shore gave away a superb picture, full and illuminated by the Fireworks. However, those who were preparing to wait for dawn, lying on the strip of sand that stretches from Vela to the Hotel Arts: Did the crowd look bigger this time than in the recent post-pandemic summers or was a certain return to normality necessary, after the debauchery with which the chill of the event was shaken? covid?
The truth is that, until well into the morning, the spree He barely gave any sign of running riot. Even some minors participated in the revelry accompanied by their parents, although the solstice always imposes its rules, relaxing customs, also stirring with the occasional sinister claw: at least one middle-aged man was stabbed close to the chest and had to be attended to in the promenade marítimas EL PERIÓDICO had the opportunity to see.
The brawl happened after the midnight. On a paradoxically comfortable night to be the shortest of the year, it seemed like a quiet hour, when the excess of energy had hardly yet taken effect. alcoholwell stocked by the grocery stores -long lines of customers, only surpassed by those that formed before the sinks qualified- and the numerous lateros who shouted the commoditynot a few with tables placed on the boardwalk to exhibit the cocktails: not to enter into the haggling that the vendors almost implored anyone to turn around after asking the price, the mojitos street cars were sold for five euros -four, in the cheapest version- and the beerat one euro, below the two euros that those thirsty for water had to loosen up.
“We were having a few beers when, suddenly, a man pushed him and the fight started & rdquor ;, whimpered a girl who accompanied the wounded man. The toilets performed a bandage on the left arm, at the height of the heart. Shirtless and composed, the man did not lose consciousness after receiving the nasty scratch. “He only went through a bang casual. The one who stabbed was with three or five others. They all ran away & rdquor ;, recounted some boys on bikes, who saw the altercation.
The Mossos d’Esquadra searched the street Pepe Rubianes and the Paseo Marítim, following in the footsteps of another witness and trying to locate the attacker: perhaps it was a chimera among so many people. Several street vendors disappeared when they noticed the presence of the agents: some of them, clever, hid from the policemen, each leaning with a glass in hand on one of the tables spread out with the drinks they offered. They posed as another group in full spree.
light armor
On a night that invites détente, even an agent of the Urban Guard on duty chatted briefly with journalists. “There’s a drone controlling crowds. Depending on the capacity is reached, access will be cut off. But it better continue like this & rdquor ;, settled the policeman, stationed at a control point in the Plaza de Mar.
It was expected that this time the regulation would be tightened to cross Barceloneta in the direction of entering or leaving the coast, to prevent the massification not spread to the neighborhood and ensure the rest of the neighbors. “The festivals of 2019 and 2021 were quite chaotic and that is why we proposed at least one perimeter closure, although what we always ask for is the closing from the beach through Sant Joan, but they tell us that it could not be guaranteed,” says Manel Martínez, vice president of the Barceloneta Neighborhood Association.
However, the armor was imperceptible, light at best. Although they circulated vans and police vehicles up and down, they did not block traffic or limit the passage of those who rushed onto the coast. There was hardly a single street fenced off at one end and the other, that of L’Atlantida: its inhabitants preserve the tradition of occupying the road and sharing dinner. In any case, the interior of the neighborhood was hardly invaded: late at night, some attendees of the celebrations cut through the alleys, although the majority flowed across the entire width of Joan de Borbo to him meter. By the way, around 2:30 a.m., the employees of TMB they blocked the entrance to the Barceloneta station and strove to bring order to the crowd that was piling up at the mouth of the stop.
Unconcern
Long before ending the festival, Berta was worried that she would not see a clearing on the beach where she could settle with her friends. “She’s bursting! I don’t know if we’re going to be able to find a place& rdquor;, the girl snorted, unconcerned that the swarm gathered by the sea could be propitious for a theft stealthy or an assault. “When I go to work, they can also rob me or stab me. The truth is that here I am more afraid of burning myself with the firecrackers & rdquor ;, he opposed.
“A theft? There is always that in Barcelona and you have to take great care of yourself, even when there is no celebration. They already tried to rob me once& rdquor ;, answered Valerio, armed with an arsenal of rockets at the foot of the shore Carlos, emboldened by friends and the bottle that grabs, scared away everything fear on a night that he described as “chevere”, as they say in his country, Colombia. “If someone comes with bad intentions, we tie them up and throw them into the water & rdquor ;, she resolved.
Nil and Anna took a dip without needing to be pushed: they dove at midnight to jump three waves, as is typical in Valencia, where they come from. “It has given us a bit of a cut, because we were almost alone & rdquor ;, the two young people admitted. They were disgusted by the overcrowding, also by the waste of the bottle that carpeted the sand.
stretched out on a pareo -Some sub-Saharans offered them for 12 euros-, Ana and Daniele complied with a ritual: paint on paper what they pray for each year that, somehow, begins with Sant Joan. “I have been celebrating it since I was three years old and, for me, it has a connection with wishes. I find it stimulating & rdquor ;, she confessed. Her friend declared himself more overwhelmed: “Too many people & mldr; I don’t have anything in particular in mind that could happen to me, an attack or something like that, but I am on alert.”
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More prosaic is the stinging that has irritated the beach bars, who have been banned from organizing parties for the second consecutive year in Barcelona. “It affects the billing, service and intensity of work. Without a ban, we would make 20 or 25% more cash”, calculated Gianmarco. In any case, he admitted that the business skyrockets with vervain. “If we normally have 800 or 1,200 clients, for Sant Joan we can reach 3,000 & rdquor ;, he estimated.
More modest were the claims of Sandoval, a latero to avoid unemployment: he bought 50 cans of beer at the beginning of the night and, around two, he had sold about 30, each for one euro. “It is going regularly, because there is a lot of competition this year,” he grumbled. at the parties of Funny I have sold 300, but here there are more sellers than other times. On top of that, the Pakistanis have a warehouse and a van comes to reload them.” He says that only what his wife earns comes into the house. “At most, what I get will give me for the butane & rdquor ;, she intuits. Even in the craziest night there are those who just try to survive.