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ARCHIVED - San Javier police break up three illegal gatherings involving 290 people
What’s the point of having rules if those breaking them aren´t penalised????
The covid virus is extending right across the region, fuelled not by foreign visitors going to the beach and having a beer in a beachside chiringuito and fastidiously maintaining social distancing, but by groups of people, predominantly young people , who feel that they themselves are not at risk as cases in younger people generally are milder or asymptomatic and are ignoring the measures put in place to limit social contacts.
The tragedy is, that the young will be most affected when the economic downturn kicks in, their jobs will be the first to go and they will end up losing more than any of us, if this virus isn´t brought under control.
They know that they’re unlikely to get fined, and they don´t see why it’s such a problem for them to get together with a few friends and spend some time together.
At the weekend. the Local Police of San Javier dissolved three mass gatherings involving 290 people who for the main part did not wear a mask, and did not respect social distancing, in addition to exceeding the limit allowed in public and private meetings of six people if they are not all living under the same roof.
Last Saturday afternoon the agents evicted a group of 150 people who had gathered in the abandoned facilities of the old District leisure area where they were enjoying team sports and barbecues. The participants were evicted and after identifying the person responsible for the illegal meeting, the corresponding denuncia was made.
On the same day, another gathering of about 70 people was detected on the courts of the Rambla de El Mirador at the volleyball court, which was also evicted and a woman selling alcoholic beverages in a van, was also issued with a denuncia which will be processed by the courts and a fine issued.
Finally, on Sunday in the Torre Saavedra area, the agents, alerted by a call from a member of the public, evicted another prohibited meeting of 70 people who said they were celebrating the Virgen del Cisne (this means it was the Ecuadorian community). In addition to not respecting the rule that limits meetings to 6 people, the attendees did not respect the safety distance and in many cases did not wear a mask.
It’s obvious from the image that in two of these instances,this was the south-American community celebrating their annual Virgen del Cisne fiestas, sporting gatherings with a BBQ, a frequent feature of gatherings within this community, and certainly in these areas there is a large south-American population working in the agricultural sector.
It is normal for the south-American community to hold these gatherings; every weekend they can be seen all over the region, go to the La Fica showground on a Saturday night in Murcia city and there are literally thousands of people gathered together, playing volleyball, listening to music, whole families gathering to talk and socialise and on village football pitches all over the region, the community will do the same thing. It's their culture and it's what they do.
But it’s frustrating to see this type of situation occurring again and again when we all know that this is how the virus spreads. The Latino community was the source of the "Bolivian outbreak" and outbreaks in Totana and Lorca originated within the latino community, spread through bars which were predominantly used by young latinos. That is not a racist opinion, it's a fact and it's equally true that the virus has spread through many non-latino bars as well, but at the root of the problem is communities and social groups gathering together to enjoy themselves and socialise.
On Sunday, driving down to the market the Ed.passed a large group of motorcyclists, standing close together chatting by the petrol station, with not a mask to be seem amongst them. At the top of the hill a large group of cyclists were enjoying the view and having a drink of water having completed the uphill climb,not a mask to be seen anywhere......and this is how the virus spreads.
Unfortunately, the authorities find themselves in a difficult position; the only way to stop the spread of covid is to stop us having social contact altogether, but then, this form of lockdown kills the economy.
But then, what’s the point of passing these measures which most of us respect and then not enforcing them rigidly because the minority know there is no comeback so they might as well just ignore the rules anyway?
Appealing to our better nature isn´t working and we’re being told that if nothing changes within the next two weeks then our regional hospitals will be overwhelmed.
So what do the authorities do to stop these gatherings? More fines? A hotline for the public so they can report illegal gatherings and the police respond quickly, issuing steep fines for anyone attending? A concerted campaign amongst community influencers and peña heads to stop these gatherings happening? Or leave things how they are and all those who are playing by the rules sit and watch their businesses disintegrate while we wait for a vaccine.
Difficult call.