Simon Hunter
THE REGGAETON Beach Festival, which was due to take place this weekend in Madrid, will not be going ahead after City Hall refused to grant organisers a licence. Around 40,000 people were due to attend the event, which was to be hosted in the controversial new Mad Cool festival grounds.
The Mobility and Environment departments at the council told Spanish news outlets that the ‘security conditions’ were not up to standard, as well as there being issues with the evacuation plans.
The event was cancelled on Wednesday, just three days before it was due to start.
City Hall added that the plans presented by the organisers were ‘incomplete’, while the municipal fire service had also filed an unsatisfactory report about the event.
This is the latest controversy to hit the festival ground in the Villaverde district of Madrid, located in the south of the Spanish capital.
The area is named Mad Cool after the festival that inaugurated the new ground earlier this year. But attendees of that event were hugely critical of the problems they found, from the cancellation of the first night due to flooding left by heavy rains, to logistical problems getting to and from the site.
The scene was repeated just last week when Harry Styles played there, with desperate fans waiting for hours in kilometre-long queues in the burning sun.
There were also reports of ticket-holders jumping over fences and crossing the M-45 motorway, according to Spanish online daily El Diario.
Local residents have also been very unhappy about the events held there so far, due to noise levels exceeding those permitted and the overcrowding of streets as tens of thousands of concert-goers descended on the area.
The Reggaeton Beach Festival was due to be held on Saturday July 23 and 24, with acts such as Anuel AA, Aina da Silva and Eladio Carrion on the bill.
Read more:
- Rainy weather in Madrid forces cancellation of first night of Primavera Sound festival
- Online Costa Blanca scammers sold fake tickets to festivals and shows in Spain
- Red Hot Chili Peppers to return to Spain in 2023 to headline Mad Cool festival in Madrid
