The promoter of the reggaeton festival that was scheduled to be held today from noon in the municipality of San Miguel de Abona finally suspended the concerts by not getting the permits. The announcement of the company came last night, after 11:00 p.m.: the Reggaeton Beach Festival “has been cancelled”. “In the next few days, all attendees will receive an email with the instructions to request the full refund of the tickets and the recharges on the bracelets,” says the promoter’s statement, which concludes: “We want to inform all those affected that we are going to take legal action against the administration for the irregularities committed in the processing of the files. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.”
This closes days of uncertainty after the San Miguel City Council maintained the denial of authorization for a show for which some 20,000 tickets had been sold. The promoter, a national company that organizes these same festivals in other places in Spain such as Barcelona, Mallorca or Santander, tried until late yesterday to correct the problems but it was impossible. The Local Police of San Miguel de Abona, in fact, sealed yesterday at noon the venue installed in Amarilla Golf where the Reggaeton Beach Festival Tenerife was going to be held throughout the day.
The precinct that disappeared
Local agents placed the seals, supported by agents of the Civil Guard, with the intention of avoiding the celebration of the festival and any problem of public order. And it is that nearly 20,000 tickets had been sold, as the promoter had announced on its social networks. However, the police precinct disappeared after the agents left. The organization, the company RBF, continued throughout the afternoon and part of the night yesterday with the preparations, as evidenced by their announcements on social networks, with the work of setting up the stage and the distribution of bracelets among hundreds of young people who gathered from mid-afternoon in the Amarilla Golf area. But after 11:00 p.m. came the final announcement of the cancellation.
The producer charges against the Consistory: “There is animosity towards our music and our audience”
The southern Consistory maintained the refusal to authorize the concert due to the lack of security guarantees, according to the reports of its technicians. The organizers tried to reverse the decision, based on a decree last Tuesday by the mayor, Arturo González, with the delivery of documentation on Thursday and all day yesterday. But the municipal refusal to grant the permit was maintained, because the required documentation has not been completed and the security plan has not been complied with. The decree bases this decision on the lack of documentation and unfavorable technical reports from the urban and security fields.
«No news. Stay unauthorized. It is not up to us to talk about suspension or prohibition.” The message was launched by the southern City Council in the afternoon. Sources of the same indicated that “the second file has ended with five negative sectoral reports.” This new document was written to respond to the papers, analyzed almost one by one, that the promoters delivered since Thursday. Both parties maintained multiple contacts during the day.
The City Council of San Miguel de Abona “has made every effort to try to carry out the celebration of the festival.” On the one hand “by admitting documentation after the deadline in the first file” and, then, “by allowing more papers to be delivered at dawn that have been valued expressly to try to verify compliance with the law.” “But nothing has changed compared to the first file. There is no authorization”, settled an official source.
Missing documentation
The promoter of the festival tried to remedy these deficiencies but it was very difficult to do so in such a short time. Above all, the lack of sectoral certificates, such as the easement of the air corridor that must be sent by the State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) due to the proximity of the Tenerife Sur airport. During the placement of the seal, the police did not close the entrances so that the material could be removed from an installation that was practically completed for the concert. They warned representatives of the organizing company that breaking the seal could constitute a criminal offense if they continued with the preparation and tried to celebrate it. It would lead to the opening of legal proceedings. Another fact: the private security company that was going to cover the festival confirmed to the organizers that it was giving up the service because it was not authorized and the venue was sealed. Faced with this situation, the company backtracked and announced the cancellation at the last minute.
A sector always aware of these acts is that of taxi drivers. One of them was surprised that the San Miguel City Council had not told them, as on other occasions, where the space would be set up to locate their vehicles. Yesterday the forty licenses were not enough to move the visitors. “When I got to the Las Chafiras intersection I saw a lot of young people and traffic jams.” It is told by a neighbor of the town who was returning from the capital. He continues: «Some said they came from Las Palmas and others from the Peninsula. They went with their suitcase or bag to sleep in the environment. Some even crossed the highway, with the danger that it entails. Everyone has stayed in “the paradise of perreo”, as the promoter defines these festivals.
From 65 to 140 euros
Reggaeton Beach Festival Tenerife was planned in a space with capacity for 20,000 people and almost all the tickets, with prices between 65 and 140 euros, had already been sold. Two factors were key to summoning so many people, especially young fans of the musical genre. On the one hand, the announcement of a twelve-hour show – from 12:00 to 00:00 – and on the other, the attractiveness of the poster with top-level figures such as Anuel AA, Myke Towers or Justin Quiles. It will have to be another time.
The company cancels the festival amid harsh criticism against the City Council. Thus, he accused the Consistory of having given permission to other massive events “without the corresponding license” and of having acted “with animosity towards our brand, our music and our public, acting in bad faith and leaking technical reports with erroneous information.” The promoter assures in the statement posted last night on her social networks that she should have obtained permission and that she reserves the right to take legal action “for the damage caused to both the producer, the organization and third parties.”
