ARCHIVED - Barcelona tackles Covid surge by wetting beaches and city squares at night
The measure is designed to deter young people from gathering in large numbers at night
Catalunya now has the highest 14-day Covid incidence rate of any region in Spain at 603 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, but rather than asking people to stay at home, closing down establishments where infection in likely to spread (as occurred yesterday in the Valencia region and Murcia region) or attempting to re-impose the obligatory wearing of facemasks, the Town Hall of Barcelona is adopting a rather less conventional strategy.
In an effort to deter young people from gathering in large groups at night it has been announced that beaches and public squares will be sprayed with water every evening to make them less attractive. This follows a week in which the police have moved in to break up night-time beach parties at La Barceloneta in the city of Barcelona, and the attention is to put an end to gatherings both there and in locations like the Plaza de Gràcia.
Councillor Eloi Badia recognizes that this policy is unlikely to be completely successful, but hopes that it will contribute to emptying the beaches and public squares of large groups of people, as well as making life easier for residents who have been complaining about the noise!
His colleague Albert Batlle explained that this is only one of the steps being taken and called for responsible behaviour on the part of all residents and visitors, as well as urging people to wear facemasks when they unable to maintain social distancing. However, at present the Town Hall is not considering closing the beaches altogether.
Meanwhile, the regional government in Catalunya has placed restrictions on discotheques and nightlife, allowing only outdoor establishments to remain open at night. The measure came into force on Friday 9th July.