Has the celebration of music macrofestivals in Catalonia been a serious mistake?

Catalonia has presumed of celebrating the largest music festivals without social distance in Europe during the month of July, but has ended up being the region of the continent with the highest incidence of contagion in the fifth wave of the Covid-19. The region has seen a 66% increase in people hospitalized in just one week, driven by the group of people aged 20 to 39, with hospitalization figures such as those in May.

A cause-and-effect relationship is not detected between festivals and the fifth wave of contagion, probably stimulated by summer vacation outings, and the increased transmission provided by the delta variant, but there could be contributed to strengthening it.

The first macro-musical event was the Vida Festival, renamed in the social networks as CoVida from 1 to 3 July in Vilanova i la Geltrú, which suffered a very remarkable chaos at the entrance of the event. Then, the Canet Rock -recognized on Twitter as the Canet Brot (Canet Branch)-, on July 3 in Canet de Mar and, finally, the Cruïlla Festival, renamed on Twitter as Covilla, from July 8 to 10 in the Parc del Fòrum of Barcelona. They have gathered approximately 27,000, 21,000 and 40,000 people respectively.

Under the viral motto on social media that culture is safe, the excuse of clinical trials with the advice of the Foundation for the Fight against AIDS and Infectious Diseases, the shield - weak - of antigen tests and the call from marketing to the emotional part of the public remembering what the concerts were like before the coronavirus, these festivals have transmitted the story that these spaces were safe for attendees, as before, with the difference that people should always wear the mask -second shield against the virus- except in certain places of food and drink. In this way, the alarmism that could cause the vision of thousands of people dancing and singing together arm in arm has been greatly curbed.

However, voices in the healthcare industry do not trust antigen testing as a "healthcare passport". Researcher and geneticist in the Leicester University Salvador Macip has pointed out about antigen testing that "they are an important tool for pandemic control, but we can't sell the idea that they are a passport to do whatever you want" and, about festivals, "They should not be done" because "with a high level of virus circulation putting the unvaccinated population together is a bit absurd," says 'elMón'. Magda Campins, head of Epidemiology at the Vall d'Hebrón Hospital in Barcelona, ​​says that "it is not prudent" to do big events at the moment: "We have all seen images of Canet Rock ... in which they were made antigen tests and a hundred positive people were detected ... but we know that after a while you are there the masks are down, people are very close together, shouting, singing ... and all that favors transmission. "

Indeed, the control of the thousands of people participating in the festival wearing a mask has been deficient, as can be seen in the videos of ‘Metropoli Abierta’. Including Laura Borràs - President of the Parliament of Catalonia.

In conclusion, the two shields that were supposed to protect festival attendees, antigen test and masks, have cracks: the validation of antigen tests as a health passport is debatable and part of the public has not put on the mask correctly. As a result, the credibility of the slogan "culture is safe" has been so diminished that the Acampada Jove, ERC political party youth festival, has decided to cancel its edition for "responsibility" even though it had permission to do so -following the same model as those described above. The Counselor of Health, Josep Maria Argimon, has spoken out against more crowded festivals and pointed out that there are images of the festivals that he did not like at all. Finally, it has been ordered in Catalonia that all cultural events take place with the audience seated, ending at 00:30 the latest.