«Official statement: the event scheduled for Saturday 30 in Tenerife has not been cancelled. At the moment, we are working together with the City Council of San Miguel de Abona to guarantee its success. The promoter of the Reggaeton Beach Festival (RBF) in Tenerife maintains its plan to hold the concerts at Amarilla Golf tomorrow, Saturday, despite the lack of options left by the San Miguel Consistory, that the permit has been denied and the file closed because the security measures and the documentation presented do not comply with the legal requirements.
The company, however, continues after having sold nearly 20,000 tickets at prices between 65 and 140 euros. Yesterday at noon he announced in his Instagram story the brief statement to which the initial text belongs and in the afternoon he added images of young people in the Carrefour de Añaza Shopping Center collecting bracelets and validating tickets, in addition to other images with workers setting up the stage in Golf yellow. He did it as if nothing was happening, despite the fact that the San Miguel Consistory also posted on the internet (Twitter) a concise version regarding the planned reggaeton festival with a phrase: “The celebration of the Reaggeton Beach Festival 2022 is disavowed.”
The City Council of San Miguel de Abona considered yesterday that there is no option for reggaeton concerts to be held. The file is closed and “the security measures and the documentation presented by the organization do not meet the necessary requirements.” Lot García, first deputy mayor of San Miguel, offers the municipal version. He exhaustively indicates that “the promoters have to present all the documentation from scratch, because the file is already closed.” At the end of Wednesday and yesterday, Thursday, the promoter presented various documentation related to the health field. García sees “practically unfeasible” that in 24 hours they manage to collect all the permits. “There is no margin. There is no authorization to hold this festival.” The mayor explains that the organizers “presented the documentation on May 9 and there was a request for correction on May 11, two days later, to which they did not respond satisfactorily.” “Many documents were never presented,” underlines García, to add: “We have to guarantee a minimum of security and they lack a large number of certifications.”
In this sense, the technicians of the City Council of San Miguel de Abona have issued up to four negative reports to give the authorization and this is reflected in the file. “Documents that are necessary to guarantee security are missing and this City Council does not say so, but the law,” explains Lot García.
García highlights among the shortcomings that “they have not certified the sound and lighting installations, they do not have an electricity project or they lack a self-protection plan.” But there is a fundamental aspect that is not fulfilled: the mandatory authorization of the State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA), which depends on the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, to hold the event near the Tenerife Sur airport. The guarantee of easement is essential as it is an airspace corridor and even more so when they intend to use spotlights. This newspaper has been able to learn that they requested it this week when it is a document that takes a minimum of two months to be processed.
Another key aspect is the great dimension of the concert, which would bring to San Miguel at least more than 20,000 people. The calculation of the report included in the file is that 25 policemen are needed in two shifts at least. The municipality does not have them and requested reinforcements for that day from the Services Commission to other towns in the South and to the Canarian Police without receiving a response. “It would be very difficult, practically impossible and unfeasible for them to present the papers now and hold the festival because they have to start the procedure from scratch and there is very little left.” Questioned by the decision of the promoters to go ahead, according to what they have reflected on their social networks, Lot García is forceful: «If they continue down that path, and it seems that way, because they maintain the assembly, the Local Police will seal the venue. In the event that they break it, the competent authority will be notified.” The spokesman for the San Miguel City Council ends with a resounding reflection: «We have never come across a file like this before, so lacking in documentation».
Many calls and reactions in the network
The City Council of San Miguel de Abona yesterday received a barrage of calls after EL DÍA published that it had denied permits for the celebration of the Reggaeton Beach Festival in Tenerife, scheduled for tomorrow Saturday at Amarilla Golf. “They have called us from almost all of Tenerife, from other islands and even from the Peninsula.” This was explained by the deputy mayor, Lot García, who underlines that the decision has been adopted due to the serious breaches in the documentation that the organizers have to present, especially that related to security. One thing to keep in mind: a reference space on the web, such as Lagenda. Leisure guide in Tenerife, yesterday considered the festival canceled with this word in white on a red background. There have also been multiple reactions on social networks and, above all, a lot of uncertainty about whether the reggaeton festival will finally be held. The uncertainty is marked above all by the attitude of the promoters, who yesterday, 48 hours before the event, with a resounding refusal from the City Council of San Miguel de Abona to grant the permits -without which no activity can be held- and after selling nearly 20,000 tickets, they pointed out that the concerts scheduled at Amarilla Golf for tomorrow Saturday “are not cancelled” and even broadcast images of young people getting the access bracelet in a shopping center. Most of the opinions on the networks agreed on how this situation had come about so few hours after the celebration of a massive festival.
