The The community of Madrid announcement this Thursday the refusal of the license of the Puro Reggaeton festival, which was to be held at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium starting this Friday with an estimated attendance of 35,000 people. From the Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Interior, which is responsible for authorizing these large events, it was pointed out that the authorization had not been completed because there was a previous report from the municipal police of the Madrid town hall who discouraged the celebration of these concerts. Also, it was pointed out that the organizers had submitted the necessary documentation to approve the celebration of the festival after the deadline.
“The announcement comes as a surprise as the festival is ready to open the doors tomorrow (for this Friday) at 4:15 p.m.with the stage set up, sound equipment installed and security personnel finalizing preparations to welcome our audience,” festival officials said in a statement. “All the steps that the administration has taken in its relationship with Us have implied that the festival had the green light,” they added.
At the beginning of this Friday, the Community detailed the reasons for refusing the celebration of the Madrid Puro Reggaeton Festival event. “We have acted in accordance with current security regulations, following the usual procedure for holding this type of show and taking into account that the plan presented by the organization to Madrid City Hall does not meet safety requirements necessary, as indicated in the report of the Municipal Police of Madrid”, he underlined.
The regional government points out in its statement that a few days ago the organizers decided to change the location of the concert, which was initially to take place in the Caja Mágica, which led to the inscription a new license on Monday July 11. The request reached the regional administration on Tuesday, July 12, government sources said, adding that for this type of event the minimum deadline for application is one month.
“It was out of time”, they assert, an extreme that the organizers do not deny. “The organization has submitted a comprehensive safety and emergency plan for the smooth running of the event within the limits of the place (…) if the deadlines have been exceeded by the promoter, it is exclusively due to the fact that the Administration has requested more and more documentation and that the “Festival team needed time to meet these demands,” the festival replied.
City police report
The refusal of the authorization responds to the non-compliance with the procedure for granting it established in the regional decree which regulates the celebration of major events, such as New Year’s Eve or Kings’ Day, they said. insisted from the Puerta del Sol, and the unfavorable report of the municipal police.
The Community has published some of the points contained in this document. They are:
– “The request is registered in the Community of Madrid on 07/12/2022 at 2:46 p.m., when the required period is 30 days before the event is held.”
– “To date, the Fire Prevention Inspection Service has not received the Self-protection Plan for approval”.
– “The Mobility Plan presented does not refer to the place where the festival will take place”.
– “It also does not present the acoustic derogation to exceed the sound levels”.
– “The civil liability insurance presented does not have the correct location, having as its address Camino de Perales number 23, where the Caja Mágica is located”.
– “In the self-protection plan, there are errors in the activity data”.
– “Nor was a prior security meeting held in the Government Delegation, as is customary in this type of event, to establish the appropriate security arrangements, assess the risks and find out all the points related to the celebration of the event. »
mounted stage
The promoter of the festival indicated on Thursday that she had received the refusal of the license with “surprise, amazement and defense”. The organization claims to have changed the venue of the festival from the Caja Mágica to the Wanda “to celebrate a safer event, with better access, better connection to public transport and more space”.
Likewise, they regret the prejudice that the absence of a license causes them and the participants. “35,000 people carry months of waiting and making plans to attend a historical event of undeniable cultural interest, such as the farewell of the legend of Latin music Daddy Yankee”, underlined the organizers of the event.
Moreover, they regret having known the decision with the decor [como se puede ver en la foto que acompaña a esta información]sound equipment installed, security personnel finalizing preparations and with more than 100 national and international journalists accredited.
The promoters called on the Community to reconsider its decision, which did not happen. As arguments, they argue that the organizing company has 30 years of experience in the sector and “it is one of the biggest promoters of music in Spain and every year it celebrates fifty successful concerts, tours and mass events attended by more than 300,000 people”.
The Wanda, they added, regularly hosts sporting and musical events with the same and higher volume of attendance, “without registering incidents or causing problems for the safety of people”. “We have no doubt that there is an obvious lack of will in the autonomous administration for this event to take place”, said the festival. They also recalled that the costs of organizing the event were paid to the Community of Madrid. “All the measures that the administration has taken in its relationship with us, they made it clear to us that the festival had been given the green light,” they remarked.
In the networks, among the people who bought a ticket to attend the concerts there is a lot of uncertainty. Some wonder if the decision of the Community is still revocable and others already assume that there is no possibility of celebration and want to know how the money for the purchased tickets, which ranged from 40 to 180 euros, will be returned .