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5,000 People Attend Concert With No Social Distancing In Barcelona After Covid Tests

5,000 People Attend Concert With No Social Distancing In Barcelona After Covid Tests

It's a glimpse into how things could slowly return to normal

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

5,000 people have attended a musical event in Barcelona that took place with no social distancing in place after they all passed same-day testing for Covid-19.

The music enthusiasts packed out the floor of the Palau Sant Jordi arena to watch indie band Love of Lesbian play after everyone present had taken a Covid-19 antigen test earlier on the day of the gig.

The performance took place with special permission from the Spanish health authorities as part of a pilot scheme to see whether the rapid testing system would stop outbreaks of the virus should concerts such as this be allowed to proceed.

However, the crowd were asked to wear masks, proving that things were not totally as they would have been before the pandemic.

PA

The start of the concert was delayed because of the health and safety protocols that had to be taken care of upon entrance to the venue, but that didn't stop everyone having a great time.

Santi Balmes, the lead singer of the band, shouted out to the crowd: "Welcome to one of the most exciting concerts of our lives!"

After the show, attendee Jose Parejo told Sky News: "We were able to evade reality for a while.

"We were inside our small concert bubble. And we were even able to remember back in time when things like this one were normal.

"Things that nowadays aren't that normal, sadly."

PA

Another concertgoer, 29-year-old Salvador, said: "It was spectacular. We felt safe at all times. We were in the front row and it was something we'd missed a lot.

"We are very proud to have had the chance to take part in this. We hope it'll be the first of many."

All attendees were tested at three sites across Barcelona on the day of the concert, with 80 nurses drafted in to perform the tests wearing full personal protective equipment.

By 12:00PM, three people had already been identified as positive cases, and another having come into contact with a positive case.

Obviously, they weren't allowed to attend the event, but were given a full refund.

PA

The concertgoers received the results of their tests via an app after about 10 or 15 minutes, and their test and mask were included in the ticket price that was between 23 and 28 Euros (between £20 and £24).

The experiment was partially funded by the EU's recovery fund and was devised in order to attempt to boost the Spanish economy.

Spain has recorded more than 3.2 million cases of Covid-19 and over 75,000 people have died.

This event has proven - preliminarily at least - that pre-concert screening and face masks prevented infections within the venue, despite no social distancing measures being in place.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: World News, Barcelona, Music, Interesting, Spain