At the Bachata Dance Club tonight you will not be able to dance yet, but dozens of people are queuing waiting to enter and spend some time in their high chairs, with the colored lights and the powerfully loud music.
Francisco Marín is one of the partners of this nightclub, which is located in the Eixample district of Barcelona.
They have opened at 00.01 at night and with a capacity of 450 people they will be able to accommodate 225. It already seems a lot considering that they could not open with some normality for 15 months.
From today they can do it, although with important restrictions, not only in the capacity, but also in the schedule: until three thirty.
“It is a bittersweet joy, because we needed to open, but it is only 50%.
It will serve to cover expenses ”, explains Marín, who adds that“ now the disco hours allow you to open from six in the afternoon until three thirty, but you will not open at six because people come after midnight.
At seven, eight, or nine, no bills.
And you have to have the same staff, it is an aberration ”.
A nightclub in the Port Olímpic of Barcelona.CRISTÓBAL CASTRO
“You have to tell people to stay out.
Some will wait to see if someone comes out, and being on the street there will be noise, and the neighbors will complain.
But I can't do anything, I'm tied hand and foot, I have to adjust to the circumstances, ”says the owner from the Bachata Dance Club website.
He also anticipates that "at the start, which will be at three thirty in the morning, you will find groups of 100 or 200 people in each club, but we can't do anything ... I think they were wrong at the time."
More information
Catalonia opens nightlife until 3:30 a.m. from Monday, June 21
For now, however, the crowd gives off a joyous aura and neatly waits for their turn to enter. Ahilin and Irene are two of the many friends who are queuing: “Before we used to come a lot, every weekend, Friday and Saturday. This place is my temple, ”Irene jokes. “Here I dance bachata,
dembow
, salsa, merengue, vallenato, everything. We needed to come, at least a little bit. It is not everything, but it is something ”, they say.
“We have opened at twelve - Francisco Marín says as he shows me his watch, which shows 00.45 - Right now, inside, there are forty or fifty people, because making the list is manual, it is very tedious.
And at three thirty we will be kicking the people out, so we have two hours and a little.
You had to start somewhere, and I'm very happy, but it's bittersweet ”, he concludes.
The list to which it refers is a document in which the name, ID, telephone number and email of each person who enters must be noted.
The boss of the Bling Bling nightclub, five minutes from here, also acknowledged that they were having difficulties in complying with this measure, because to make matters worse, people constantly come and go to smoke, and access must be controlled.
Pachá nightclub in the Port Olímpic of Barcelona.CRISTÓBAL CASTRO
In front of the Bling Bling nightclub, Joan, Alex and Pablo, in their twenties, are overlapping in their statements, but come to say that they have been “a year and a half without being able to go out. People are saturated, it could have been regulated more. It's like having caged dogs and letting them go suddenly. People need leisure and go out with other people, they can't keep you locked up in your house for a month, or a year ”. Before entering the premises, one of them remembers that he starts work tomorrow at eight, but he holds the weight of the future and also enters the party.
From the Eixample we go to the hive of discotheques at the end of the Barceloneta promenade. “We are very happy, it is a very important step, but it is only one step and there is a long way to go. The proof is that there are many stores that, even though they can open, have decided not to. And this is the irrefutable proof that it is not enough ”, declares Gonzalo Lanzoni, head of Pacha. He agrees with Francisco Marín, from the Bachata Dance Club, although he highlights the importance of the terraces: "We have a capacity of 50% inside and 100% outside, having a terrace makes it much easier for us to meet the capacity".
Almost with one foot in the sand, two friends have come out to take the air and talk with enthusiasm about what is lived inside the premises: “People can only dance in the area of the dance floor, everything else is tables. It is true that there is not much distance to dance, but you can only dance with your bubble group, with those at your table. The security guard keeps telling you 'sit down' or 'you can't dance with people who are not at your table'. It is what it is, it is the party of now. To have a normal party we should all be vaccinated, and we are not yet ”.