Madrid – A Tale Of Two Covids As Police Raid In Vallecas But Jet-Set Rock On
Madrid´s finest have had a busy weekend conducting raids and manning check-points to ensure compliance with the state of alarm regulations in force in the capital.
The police conducted 9,291 check-points issuing 854 fines to motorists for breaking the 10pm-6am curfew.
In addition the police raided 395 parties in private homes, rented tourist accommodation and establishments across the capital, resulting in 280 fines for prohibited gatherings and another 738 for not wearing a mask.
The municipal police issued a further 21 fines to bar owners for breaching the 9pm closing time regulations.
Of those, 12 were in the district of Vallecas which saw the deployment of police anti disturbance units (UCES) to ensure compliance.
In one ticket-only private party, police rounded up 75 attendees and arrested 41 of them.
Party-goers had paid 20 Euros for the entrance ticket and a further 10 Euros for a drink.
In other parts of the capital, another 27 people were arrested when police raided an illegal party in a bar in the Tetuan district. Police subsequently vacated the premises and sealed it off.
However depite the deployment of additional personnel, the police seemed to have missed the loud celebrations coming from the Casino de Madrid on Alcala.
The historic venue and private members club hosted the wedding of the former Real Madrid player, Jaime Navarro with a Bulgarian socialite, Beatriz Ungría.
The “jet-set” guests included world padel star, Juan Lebrón, Elena Tablada, the bride’s sister-in-law and the famous chef Paco Roncero.
Video footage released of the wedding party shows the guests breaching state of alarm regulations including exceeding the maximum size for weddings of 50 guests as well as numerous other infractions for social and table distancing.
The video has caused outrage on social media, attracting a wave of criticism and calls for a police investigation.
Many took to social media to slam the wedding, with ‘EnfrmraSaturada’ saying: “The people I really feel sorry for are the waiters. All of them have their FFP2 masks and a face of ‘I hope I don’t get it [COVID-19]’.”
‘Menganita79’ wrote: “I thought this was before the pandemic because there was not a single guest I saw wearing a mask until I noticed the waiter.”
‘Marianofake’ said: “After watching the footage of this wedding at Casino de Madrid celebrated in the middle of a pandemic, I have come to the conclusion that no direct correlation exists between a person’s economic status and human intelligence. Good day.”
The regional newspaper La Voz de Galicia said the Directorate-General for Public Health started an investigation on the incident and have passed their information to the municipal police to carry on with the case. The potential sanctions from the incident are unclear.
The Casino de Madrid has not made any comment.
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