The power of social media

There was supposed to be a music festival yesterday on the beach at Campoamor, it had been widely advertised through social media sites. Even as late as yesterday morning, the organisers were telling people that it was taking place, in fact artists had turned up to conduct sound checks.

Last Friday though, the local authorities had decided that it could not take place because of security issues and there were barriers and police there to stop people entering the site.  So instead, the young people joined the beach party which has become an annual event on the first Wednesday in August since 1999.

At first this was a private party hosted by a nightclub but has since grown much larger as young people organise themselves to be there using social media. They arrive with carrier bags full of bottles, spirits and mixers and proceed to party in large numbers on the beach. Last year it was estimated that 20,000 turned up, who knows how many there were this year, possibly many more.

The local police are powerless to stop these events from happening. Sheer weight of numbers makes it impossible to turn the young people away. The best they can do is to try and contain the events and prevent damage to neighbouring property. No doubt that the beach this morning is awash with empty bottles etc which will have to be cleared before the visitors arrive for their day by the sea.