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It's Monday night and a group of five girls between the ages of 15 and 17 check to have everything in their bags, fix each other's hair and leave a shopping center in the north of the capital, ready for the party. At the door of the establishment, a worker laughs with the security guard: "Who would have thought that we would now have bottles on Mondays! It is that it doesn't matter to them the day it is. This is what the pandemic left us ! "

Since March 11, the date on which Madrid's nightlife venues closed their doors because of the Covid-19, the celebrations of private parties in the houses have increased considerably . Only in the month of May there was an increase of 1,220% , according to the data provided by the Association of Entrepreneurs for Nightlife of the Community of Madrid (Madrid Night).

In a document shared by this group, it is mentioned that more than 2,000 private meetings of this type have been held in the last two months in the capital. Only during the weekend of May 22 and 23 the Municipal Police identified 264 parties. In the same period of 2019, only 20 were registered.

Municipal sources consulted by EL MUNDO point out to this newspaper that the Municipal Police "has returned to the usual statistics" with the relaxation of measures and the opening of establishments coupled with the de-escalation process. According to the latest data, at the beginning of the month of June, with Madrid still in phase 1, the agents identified 270 parties and 34 large bottles that did not comply with the regulations in the city.

Patricia and Belén have lived in Madrid since October last year. At 32 and 29 years old, respectively, they went out for a drink every week at a bar and then ended the night at a disco in the city. Since the state of alarm was decreed , his routine changed. Staying at home, cooking something, exercising, and going for a walk to meet friends who live nearby became her new normal.

From May 25, the date in which Madrid went to phase 1 of the de-escalation and social gatherings of up to 10 people were allowed, the celebrations of both moved to their floors and those of their colleagues. "I prefer to go to a bar or a disco, but for the moment the parties in the apartments are fine," says Belén, who also assures that during these meetings they do not maintain the measures of social distancing or the use of the mask. "We have been up to 20 people on the same floor," she says.

For her part, Patricia is emphatic when she says that she is not concerned about the coronavirus, nor is she afraid of getting it. "I already want bars to open to go dancing." In both cases they have received complaints from their neighbors. "There have been direct complaints, luckily we have had no problems with the Police," they explain.

This is not the case with Adriana, a neighbor from Boadilla del Monte who must endure the parties organized by other tenants every week within the urbanization in which she lives. "This Monday my neighbors made a dinner with music and drinks in their garden that left until 01.30 or more. On Monday!" She complains.

Account that it is not the only case. As indicated, this situation occurred even during the state of alarm . "A week before the end of the confinement was decreed, for example, the Police came to the urbanization for a party that had been mounted in one of the houses. There were people jumping through the gardens of others to flee. Crazy. There was more of 20 people in a single garden, "he says.

Despite the fact that noise is the biggest problem for her, she is also concerned about a possible coronavirus outbreak within her urbanization. "In these meetings there is neither a safety distance, nor masks, or anything. Some have inflatable pools inside the house and there are more people there than allowed. It is normal for them: to break the rules, " he says.

Another practice that has increased these days is large bottles in the city. According to data collected by Europa Press, the Madrid Municipal Police filed 3,588 fines in May for alcohol consumption on public roads despite the state of alarm (31 of them to minors), that is, seven times more than the April, when only 477 were put on.

In social networks, citizen complaints are immediate. In Vallecas, Gran Vía del Este, Tetuán, Barajas, Moncloa, Pacífico, Malasaña there is the same postcard that is repeated every night. Groups of young people gathered without a mask and without abiding by the safety distance .

The neighbors' concern about possible outbreaks due to non-compliance with the rules of prevention of contagion in this type of meeting is not in vain. In other Spanish towns such as Castellón, for example, this week a new outbreak was confirmed with a total of 16 positive cases from a family reunion.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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