Never have a few chimes been so desired , so expected or so elbowed Some even bought grapes to celebrate the arrival of 12 p.m on May 8th the street parties are high with teens the end of the curfew Hundreds of people filled the streets of Barcelona hugging bottles of alcohol and the rhythm of music.
“Today begins a new year, a new era. The covid and the pandemic are over,” explained dozens of young people (and not so much) who concentrated in squares and avenues. The police tried to disperse them . In some cases they succeeded. In others it was “mission impossible”, according to the diagnosis of an agent of the Urban Guard.
12 o’clock at night sounded and Barcelona emitted a roar. Chants, shouts, applause and whistles were heard from the roofs, windows and balconies of the Gracia neighbor hood. “Happy New Year” many shouted from the balconies. Within minutes, the squares began to fill.
In La del Sol, for example, a group of women sang the chorus of ‘Libre’ by Nino Bravo. Others, beer in hand, decided to kick a wire doll representing the coronavirus. “Of course it is a special night, we can finally go out on the street, ” said Sergi, a young man who had a party at home with friends, swallowed the grapes with 12 chimes and immediately did not hesitate to look for a party in the city .
In less than half an hour the Plaza de la Virreina was completely filled. Confetti, streamers, a lot of alcohol and zero masks took over the place. Berta, in her twenties, couldn’t stop dancing and smiling. “Today is a day to celebrate,” he said. Roger admitted to having “some fear” of being infected despite being in the middle of the tumult “Is it selfish? Maybe.
But we have lost a year of our lives. They only want us to work but we need to go out,” criticized Sofía, a 23-year-old young woman who works in a ‘start-up’.
“We have lost a year of our lives. They only want us to work but we need to go out on the street.”
“I’m so excited that I think I’m going to cry,” Montse confessed, with the mask under her chin. “This has been very hard, I need to go out, meet new people and hook up with a stranger,” added Montse, a 26-year-old from Lleida, living in Gràcia.
“Hey, this looked like the post-war period, we’re going to start a new year,” Carla was delighted, another twenty-something who along with her group of friends did not hide that apart from several glasses loaded with gin, she had also taken other psychotropic substances.
Amid the uproar, Ali Mozzam was once again selling beers for one euro. “I have been in Spain for almost three years without papers, but hey today at least I will earn 20 euros, ” said the Pakistani who during these months works in works without a contract and lives in a crowded apartment.
At 1.45 am, about 500 people filled the Lluís Companys promenade in front of the stunned look of the police. “Today we will have to arm ourselves with patience,” confessed an agent from the Urbana. “People think that the pandemic is over he lamented.
The truth was that you could see everything except masks and safety distances. “Tonight is to let off steam, to celebrate that we are now free, that this dictatorship is over,” described Luca, a young Italian dressed in a blue wig and a tutu skirt.
“Do you think that I go like this every day? Today is to frame,” he said. “It seems that the world has ended and begins again tonight,” said Eleonora, a 28-year-old Argentine woman who works as a waitress in a pizzeria. “Today is the end of an era, a new beginning,” described María, a Fine Arts student from Elche. Are you not afraid of getting infected? “I have already passed the covid, it is fine, we are losing our youth, ” he said.
