After all: This weekend the Berliners can officially dance again.

Up to 250 people with a negative Corona test can celebrate in the outdoor areas of the clubs.

Last weekend club visitors had to stay seated in their chairs while thousands celebrated with music and alcohol in the Berlin Mauerpark, at the Aachener Weiher in Cologne and in the Paradiespark in Jena.

Because of the noise and because corona rules were violated, the police cleared some of the meetings.

The outdoor areas of the clubs, on the other hand, were often empty because of the ban on dancing, the interiors are closed anyway, with a few exceptions, for example in Brandenburg or Lower Saxony, and in many places remain so for an indefinite period.

Leonie Feuerbach

Editor in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin.

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    Matthias Rüb

    Political correspondent for Italy, the Vatican, Albania and Malta based in Rome.

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      Michaela Wiegel

      Political correspondent based in Paris.

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        As in Berlin, it is also in other European cities: The number of infections is falling, the party mood is increasing - but the clubs are closed.

        The displeasure of the young people and the club operators is growing.

        In Italy, for example, a test run for a corona-compatible return to nightlife had to be postponed again and again.

        Two discos, one on the beach of Gallipoli in Apulia, the other in Milan, should each receive 2000 vaccinated, recovered or tested guests after 17 months.

        First June 5th, then June 12th and finally June 19th was planned.

        But even in the third attempt on this Saturday it will not work.

        Date chosen for ultimatum with care

        The reason: The Ministry of Health in Rome did not reply to the disco operator's request, submitted weeks ago and provided with a comprehensive catalog of planned hygiene measures.

        Now the president of the Association of Dance Clubs, Maurizio Pasca, has lost patience: "If we don't get an answer from the government by June 21st, we will open our bars on July 1st even without permission."

        Pasca chose the date for his ultimatum carefully: From Monday onwards, all of Italy (except perhaps the Aosta Valley) will be designated as a “white zone” with the lowest risk of infection and hardly any restrictions.

        Then the curfew from midnight to 5 a.m., which is currently still in force in the “yellow zones”, will fall across the country.

        The protest of the disco operators is under the motto: “There is dancing everywhere, just not in the disco: why?” To support their argument, Pasca and his association sent a collection of cell phone videos to Health Minister Roberto Speranza and Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese - and at the same time on the Internet released. All sorts of “Movidas” can be seen in different cities: In Italy, the Spanish word describes the loud and hilarious goings-on in the relevant nightlife districts, for example in Rome in the Trastevere district, on the Navigli in Milan, in Naples on the Lungomare Caracciolo. “Without any control and without taking the slightest hygiene measures, people dance and laugh on the beaches, in front of the bars and in many Italian squares.We have submitted a protocol to the government that would guarantee the disco operation in compliance with all hygiene and safety measures - and we are still waiting for an answer, ”complains Pasca. Almost every third of the approximately 3,500 dance halls in the country will remain closed forever after a forced break of almost one and a half years. A service branch with more than 90,000 employees and 40,000 self-employed suffered irreparable damage.000 self-employed suffered irreparable damage.000 self-employed suffered irreparable damage.