An illegal rave lasting six days brought 5,000 people to a small village in Spain over the New Year period.
Lasting from December 30 to January 4, tents, stalls, caravans and seven stages popped up iout of nowhere reportedly less than a mile from the centre of the village of La Peza, The Guardian reports. The village has a population of 1,200, which quintupled in size when the rave was taking place. “By Saturday we were 6,000,” said Fernando Álvarez, the mayor of La Peza’s municipality.
Attendees were said to have mostly come from Spain, but there were reportedly ravers coming from as far afield as Italy and The Netherlands.
Álvarez told The Guardian: “Frankly it was magnificently organised. It was like a small town. They had a bakery, pizzeria, clothing shops, people who would braid your hair – they had absolutely everything,” he continued.
“I’m amazed that they managed to set that all up in the span of a few hours.”
The mayor went on to suggest that the giant party could benefit the village in the future. “We got six days of entertainment out of it, but we also recognise that this incident has given us a bit of publicity and put us on the map.
“We’re here if anyone wants to visit us – but maybe not 5,000 people all at once.”
Continúa tras cinco días la fiesta ilegal en La Peza, Granada.
La Guardia Civil no desaloja por motivos de seguridad. Controlan que no lleguen más vehículos, pero no prohíben la llegada a pie de más asistentes#LaHora3E
📺 https://t.co/fT1q6lUlV3 pic.twitter.com/jC3VeLty9w
— RTVE (@rtve) January 3, 2023
While local authorities were contacted about the illegal rave, police decided that it would be safer to keep the party contained, rather than attempt to evict 5,000 ravers. They did, however, set up roadblocks and barricades to prevent people from entering the rave, as well as flying a helicopter to spot people attempting to arrive on foot.
The Guardian reported that the police said that the rave was mostly peaceful, with only a small number of arrests for resisting authority and drug-related offences.
The rave even attracted some intrigued members of the local village who came and joined in, including young residents and one 80-year-old villager.
Authorities still have no idea, however, of who organised the rave or how an international event had managed to materialise on municipal lands without any warning. “We have no idea,” said Álvarez. “Truthfully, if I knew who had organised it, I would hire them to plan our village fiesta.”