Dutch woman arrested for organizing rave-marathon in Barcelona

A 29-year-old woman from the Netherlands was arrested near Barcelona yesterday after police put an end to an illegal rave party. The woman is said to have been one of the organizers of the party, which lasted about 40 hours. She was charged with serious disobedience (ignoring the corona rules) and possibly also a crime against public health, reports the Spanish media. 

The woman is one of the two main suspects. The other is a 22-year-old man from Tarragona. They will be brought before a judge on Tuesday, who will decide on their arrest. The Public Prosecution Service will determine whether the two will also be charged with a crime against public health. In that case, they face an administrative fine that can amount to no less than 600,000 euros, reports the Catalan news site El Periódico. 

It is still unclear whether the same will happen to the five co-suspects who would have helped organize the party in a warehouse in Llinars del Vallès, about 30 kilometers northeast of Barcelona. The rave party started at 9 pm on New Year’s Eve. According to the Catalan Interior Minister Miquel Sàmper, the police were aware of the illegal rave, but they did not intervene in the dark because the situation presented risks. According to police chief Josep Lluís Trapero, the “euphoric state” of some of the partygoers would have made intervention enormously difficult. 

On Friday, the police did not take action either, because according to both officials, they had to wait for instructions from the Ministry of Health due to the coronavirus pandemic and the risk of infection. After a definite answer was obtained, five hundred police officers raided the shed around non on Saturday and ended the party.