I think the youth of Spain are trying to get into the Guinness Book of Records!

Mass Botellones

A few calculations and observations after reading the aforementioned article (sensationalized - in my opinion):

Title: Spanish drinking binge ends in riots, 80 injured

First Paragraph: SIXT Paragraph: Okay. "Tens of Thousands" of people attended so we don't have a near-exact number. But they say that 25,000 were in Granada so we'll PRETEND it only took place in Granada for the moment.

If 80 of 25,000 people were injured DUE TO these riots, that would mean that 0.3% percent of the total partiers were injured. Of course, this 0.3% number would be less if an ALL SPAIN PARTIERS number was used to calculate this.

If 200 troublemakers were blamed for these riots, that would mean that 0.8% of the total were out to cause trouble. Again, this number would be less if an ALL SPAIN PARTIERS number was used to calculate this.

The title of the aformentioned article sure raises some eyebrows around the world, people reading through the paper would think to themselves, "My God! What's happening to the people in Spain?! Drunken riots are breaking out everywhere! It's absolute chaos!!"

Question 1:
How many people typically attend (inside and out of the statdium) a Real Madrid versus Atlético de Madrid soccer/football match? 70,000+?

Question 2:
What percentage of those people are injured during aforementioned soccer/football match?

Question 3:
What percentage of those people are arrested before, during, and after any-given game?

While I'm not at all unhappy about group assembly, I DO think it only fair that they should be required to submit an application to the local municipality for such assembly just as any march or demonstration would be required to do.

Also, there's the MESS! SMALL botellónes generate a massive, disgusting amount of WASTE (and I mean both the manufactured AND the HUMAN organic kind) left all over the street and in the corners and in the fountains and wherever.

When the city of Madrid sponsors the annual New Years Eve festivities every year at the Puerta del Sol they (the city) provide security, clean-up, and certain other facilities for those attending. But weekend botellónes are not city-sponsored events - although the recent BIG ONE in Granada seemed to be city-sponsored, the city providing them with a LARGE field to have their gathering, toilets, trash containers, and security.

Quote from aforementioned article: Remember that article titles are creatively enhanced to gather the most attention while adding quite a bit of PERSONAL opinion of the writer. Whatever happened to just reporting the news, the facts, and letting the reading make his own opinion? I mean to say, who says that 200 hundred trouble makers makes a riot situation? Who says that all of those 25,000 youths are there ONLY to get drunk? - didn't many go just to "hang out" and be with their friends while, possibly, having a few drinks and NOT getting drunk? On the surface, sure, it looks like a HUGE, DRUNKEN binge where vomit, urine, and violence is the COMMON theme here. BUT IT'S NOT! The common theme is, in MY opinion, another example in democratic societies of youthful rebellion against society's rules and controls upon them. Who among us never did anything to rebell against the rules when we were young? It's just that things today are more organized with mobile phone text messaging and the internet where "tens of thousands of people" can be mobilized towards a common goal.

The headlines of that article would have been even MORE attention grabbing had there been more riots had the police tried to STOP these botellónes across Spain. Imagine the photos and videos taken of RoboCop-dressed riot officers whacking away at rioters with their sticks, bleeding, dragging rioters across the street, making the Rodney King beating scene look like a Valentines Day party. Which is the worst of the two "evils"?? I say "Let them drink and get it over with! They're not hurting anyone but themselves and we all must pass through this stage in youth."

Now, if this was something they planned EVERY weekend, well, that would be different but it seems, SO FAR, that this was a one-time (or infrequent) event.

This all reminds me of the VERY recent youthful protests (and "RIOTS") in Paris where the right-wing government's new law which: Someone reads THIS headline and think, "Those crazy French people. They're never satisfied!" RIGHT! It's when you get "satisfied" that your relaxed, passive state allows OTHERS to IMPOSE their restrictions upon you. Are THESE French youths RADICALS and FANATICS too just like the Spanish youths? Aren't they both fighting for their rights in different ways? And then "fighting for your rights" is written in the press as a BAAAAD thing.

WHO'S trying to control YOU and HOW and WHY? Are you even aware of it? Do you care enough about your rights to spend a moment thinking about them?

Saludos, MadridMan

Thanks, MM, for your thoughtful views on these subjects. And, I hope you're keeping up your voter registration in the States. When you come back, even just to visit, it would be nice for you to see our democracy restored. I'm hoping that will happen over the next few years.

I like the way you think, MM.

Just for the record MM, the event at Granada was entirely peaceful. The trouble was at Barcelona and, in particular, Salamanca. Here's a report I wrote yesterday for our regional paper, the Costa del Sol News (www.cosatdelsolnews.es) :

INJURIES AND ARRESTS AT NATIONAL DRINKING PARTIES

While last Friday’s planned open-air drinking festival in Málaga was almost washed out by the weather, similar “macro-botellónes” elsewhere in the country left around 70 injured, including some police officers, and dozens under arrest. The most serious incidents came in Barcelona and Salamanca.
The botellón, the name given to the open-air drinking parties, is widespread with official figures suggesting that half a million 14 to 30 year olds participate every weekend. The practice originated as a response to the high prices of alcohol in many bars and clubs, participants instead buying drink cheaply in local shops and consuming it outdoors. Last week, an e-mail campaign urged people across Spain to attend botellónes on Friday night to underline what they believe is their right to drink alcohol in public places (CDSN last week).
Málaga’s event was planned to take place on a car park of the Teatinos campus and a turnout of thousands was expected, but by midnight only about 800 people were left braving the elements. Cars became temporary bars as the rain fell and there was more water than alcohol in evidence. News of the event had raised concerns amongst local people, while Málaga’s mayor, Francisco de la Torre, had come under fire for refusing to ban it.
Events in Barcelona left 68 people slightly wounded during clashes between 200 revellers and police in the Rambla del Raval area which resulted in 54 arrests. Officers are reported to have used rubber bullets and baton charges in attempts to control the crowd as the pitched battles continued most of the night. 36 police officers and a firefighter were amongst the injured.
In Salamanca, 16 people were arrested after setting fire to ten rubbish containers in an area where several nightclubs are situated, leading to confrontations with police and fire officers, as well as health care workers. The regional government said one local police officer had been hit on the head with a block of concrete wielded by a minor. A city official said about 100 of the “roughest and out of control” youths had attacked fire fighters attempting to extinguish the blazes, but noted that with an estimated 2,500 on the streets, it had been a minority which caused trouble. Damage was estimated at 24,000 euros.
In Granada, where the event was allowed to continue in a designated area, a crowd estimated at 20,000 gathered for the event, with around 50 requiring treatment for alcohol poisoning, but there were no reports of violence or injury. In Madrid, where drinking in the street is already an offence, 300 police officers patrolled the plaza Dos de Mayo, the area of the anticipated gathering, and successfully dissuaded party-goers from congregating.

ENDS

This definitely seems to be the topic of the week, and while I see what many of you are saying, I don't completely agree on some points:

1) Everyone know that most college students like partying and God knows I did my share. I don't have an issue with that. BUT, I do think turning it into a fight-for-your-rights issue is carrying it a bit too far. It would be nice to see them as well organized and adament about other more serious problems in today's society, like the precarious job situation for young people in this country. French youths are aware of it and are willing to make a stand for things they feel are important to them. The Spanish kids, while it is true they are fighting for their rights too, seem to have their priorities mixed up. Standing up for your rights to drink out in the streets, please!

2) Plus, a lot of Spanish youths just don't realize how "good" they've got it. Spanish nightlife and partying is some of the most open and intense in the world. Most Spaniards I know who have been abroad often realize that upon returning. They making the observation that the nightlife in the country they were visiting was lacking.

3) The complaint about the bar prices is an age old one. While it is true that prices in restaurants and some bars have gone up, there are plenty of places where things have hardly changed, especially in the bars around where young people usually hang out. I think of a few places near where I live which have hardly raised their prices in five years.

4) One problem with the botellón is that it makes it easier for underage kids to have easy access to alcohol. And by underage, I mean 13 and 14 years old. Studies have shown that the average age of the habitual teenage drinker has lowered over the years even though it's more difficult for them to get in bars. There is no control at botellones, which is one reason why young people like them.

5) To say that street partying doesn't bother anyone is simply not true. Tell that to the people who live in those plazas or near those small parks and have had to put up with having their neighborhoods trashed every weekend for years; or who have young children trying to sleep at night but can't because five hundred kids are outside partying until four in the morning. It's the old debate of the rights of some over the rights of others, and, to be honest with you, if I had to choose, I think the neighbors have priority.

And of course, there is the problem of drunk-driving, which speaks for itself. Is that true of anyone who goes out to party? Yes, but when you're chipping in small amounts of money to buy large quantities of alcohol (a very little food), the problem only gets worse.

6) The solution provided by Granada isn't necessarily a bad one. That is, if the kids are going to want to do it anyway, let's find a place where they can do so without disturbing anyone. There may be some other issus there because while it is true that many kids go just to hang out and NOT to get drunk, a not so small percentage does go with that intention, and the city is essentially assuming the role of facilitating that kind of behavior, which is certainly debatable. On top of that, by authorizing the gathering, it is obligated to provide police and medical service which not only costs tax money but also removes those services from other parts of the city where they may be needed for any reason.

7) I do agree that the Spanish are remakrably peaceful partyers. When people drink they can get rowdy and an occasional scuffle or even serious fight may break out; but anyone who has spent a lot of time partying in Spain will know that generally young people are not aggressive.

As I said, these comments are coming from a person who had a good time at college and has enjoyed Spanish nightlife for many years, so I can relate to their desire to have fun. But I do think it's a little sad that this is that kind of issue they seem most concerned about, much less one worth fighting for.

MM - I like your thinking!

All in all,

I had much more respect for the Spain that existed while Franco was alive, and shortly afterwards. When I hear stories like this, and from my last two visits, I realize you can never really go back home.

gazpacho,
My sentiments also.I wish I could step back to the 50's and 60's in Spain, I really miss that era,but life goes on and here we are.

(tongue-in-cheek) Yeah. I too long for the days of dictatorship. Maybe we can get one going in the USA to make things better. WHO really needs democracy, afterall?