“I am very, very moved.
It's been a year and a half since we went on stage ”, proclaimed Santi Balmes, singer of Love of Lesbian, a flagship group of the independent Spanish scene, after a first title very aptly entitled“ No one in the streets ”.
A euphoria shared by spectators jumping, dancing, singing at the top of their lungs and even having a beer at the counter, as if the pandemic had disappeared for an evening.
“It's incredible, a lot of emotion.
We had forgotten this crowd feeling, it's like it was my first concert, ”said Jordi Sanz in the pit of Palau Sant Jordi.
"We wanted so much to do something different, to take a step towards normality," said Marina Crespo, 25, who preferred, however, "to keep the distance" with the other spectators.
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"It's been the desert for a year": cultural professionals demand a plan to resume activity
Managed by a group of festivals, music promoters and a local hospital, this test concert brought together thousands of people, previously subjected to an antigen test on the morning of the show.
"5,000 participants were screened and we detected six positives and two accompanying persons of these positive cases also had to be quarantined", explains Josep Maria Llibre, Doctor of Infectious Diseases at Trias i Pujol Hospital in Barcelona.
Only participants with a negative test at the entrance to the hall and fitted with an FFP2 mask were able to attend the concert.
“We hope it will be completely safe.
For 14 days, we will look at which spectators have caught the Covid and we will notify the cases, ”added Josep Maria Llibre.
Already in December, his team had organized a pilot project in a hall in Barcelona with 500 spectators previously tested.
A few days later, none had contracted the virus.
The objective of this clinical experience is "to find out how we can live with the Covid and organize concerts in a completely safe way," Ventura Barba, executive director of the Barcelona Sónar festival, one of the organizers told AFP. .
“We hope this will be an inflection point,” he added.
According to a report published by the Federation Música de España, which represents the sector in Spain, the European music industry lost 76% of its turnover in 2020.
