Thousands of people, 5,000 according to the Guardia Civil, parked their cars, vans and caravans on the Fuente Álamo speed circuit during the last weekend of 2023 and the first weekend of 2024. And, without permission, they set up tents, stages and stalls selling beer, tomatoes, cheese and T-shirts. The site is far from the town centre and surrounded by olive trees and mountains. The festival goers gained access to the site on Saturday afternoon, after breaking the lock on the main gate.
Fearing that the influx would increase and that the New Year’s celebrations would continue until 7 January, the Guardia Civil set up a special operation at eight o’clock on Monday evening. Several patrols guarded the entrances and nearby crossroads to prevent further entries. And, according to municipal sources, this Tuesday agents of the Guardia Civil and the local police will ask those attending to «leave» this municipal enclosure. It has not been revealed who the organisers of the macro-party are.
This illegal gathering is a kind of ‘remix’ of the ‘rave’ which last year brought together around 15,000 people in La Peza, Granada, and which this year 2024 has chosen a dry area to dance, smoke and drink «without bothering anyone» or obeying anyone’s rules. «This is the party of freedom», said yesterday a young man who arrived from Santa Pola, with a refined accent, which he considers not at all out of place in a place where the ‘ravers’ and ‘hippie’ aesthetics predominate and where it seems that everyone fits in. What is most visible is a diversity of sexuality, languages and cultures, and many improvised litter bins and signs indicating that cleanliness must be respected. And this is perhaps what worries the neighbours of the circuit. «We’ll have to see how they leave all this when they leave. Then we’ll know if they’re a nuisance,» says one Fuente Álamo resident.
The Guardia Civil itself admitted in the morning that the atmosphere was «calm». María and Juan Pedro, a couple of neighbours, now grandparents, who came to see what was going on on the outskirts of their municipality, attested to this.
Although the average age of the attendees ranges from 20 to 30, Cama, from Barcelona, is 43 and is delighted with the dry landscape of Fuente Álamo. For him it is a privilege to camp in a place like this and he intends to stay here until the end of the festival, which many say will be after the Epiphany. His truck is parked in a good spot and he has all his belongings inside. You can’t pay rent in Catalonia and that’s why he lives in the vehicle he brought with him to a rave called by WhatsApp.