Pilot Barcelona Concert Paves Way For Madrid Bulls & Summer Festivals

Concerts, football matches and cultural events and festivals without social distancing could be back in time for the summer after the pilot concert in Barcelona which saw 5,000 watching rock band Love of Lesbian without any significant infections of the attendees recorded.

The medical experts from the Germans Trias i Pujol de Badalona Hospital who oversaw the pilot said an analysis of health data revealed six positive cases in the two weeks following the event including four who stated they believed the origin of their infection was from some place other than the concert.

The Barcelona health authorities gave special permission for the event when the city had an incidence rate of 260 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

An incidence rate of 250 per 100,000 is considered the threshold for “extreme risk” of infection.

All the attendees underwent a same-day antigen test which if negative would allow them in to the venue with a code to their mobile and ID checks at the door.

Although no social distancing was in place all attendees were required to wear FFP2 face masks throughout.

Other cities are following suit – although for the moment Madrid´s events are all with limited capacity for social distancing this is expected to change.

The Love of Lesbian group will be playing in Madrid on June 19th.

In the meantime this long weekend includes the return of the bulls to the Las Ventas bullring on May 2nd to celebrate Madrid´s bank holiday of Dos De Mayo, with a capacity crowd of 6,000 in the 25,000 seated arena.

In addition Madrid will be hosting its 5th Noches de Botanico in the Royal Botanic Gardens with a star studded line-up of such stars as Nathy Peluso, Amaral and Los Secretos.

Not to be outdone the Catalan city of Girona is experimenting with an initiative to help hard-hit restaurants recover with a an  “Open Girona” scheme, whereby people can go to select restaurants and other events after verifying they are low-risk for infections.

Using a phone app, participants either provide proof of being vaccinated, having had the virus at some point, or a negative antigen test taken at a specified pharmacy.

Once cleared, users can dine at designated restaurants and attend select concerts and sporting events.

The end is nearing.