Vitoria deploys the Police against punctures

• Society 'Spiking', the puncture psychosis that came from Nottingham: "I don't party anymore"

• Testimony "I felt the puncture instantly; I had dizziness, vomiting, I fell asleep..."

Elena

is 20 years old and the feeling that

- punctures of narcotic substances - haunts her.

Vitoriana, she returned to her city to enjoy a massive chupinazo in which more than 50,000 people gathered.

The atmosphere in the Basque capital is worrying, given the cases that have been reported in this autonomy.

But also in other places, such as

where she had spent a week of sun and sand with her friends.

After the party started, Elena received a

with the warning that a friend felt dizzy after feeling a puncture in her right leg and, without thinking, she went to the

“What precaution are we going to take?

Do not enter the bars?

How can you keep your distance when there are thousands of people on

and you can hardly get in?” asks Elena.

Her friend was one of the three young women who, after shouting looking up at the sky to greet Celedón -a character whose descent in an umbrella starts the festivities-, felt indisposed.

and

had reiterated throughout the week :

go to a health center at the first sign of dizziness.

The mayor,

, very forceful with this "macho plague", was the one who confirmed early this Friday that the three young women had felt the pricks and discomfort during the descent from Celedón and had gone to health centers to be treated.

The analyzes that they carried out did not detect any type of substance that supposes an indication of chemical submission to commit a sexual crime nor did they suffer the theft of their belongings.

This Friday, also at the festival in

(Guipúzcoa), four young people initially reported having suffered a puncture with subsequent dizziness.

Only one of them maintained his initial testimony and the case is part of the last four aggressions that are added to the twenty that the Ertzaintza investigates, for the moment, without a defined hypothesis.

“It is impossible to clarify who could have attacked three young people who are participating in an act with another 50,000 people with a puncture,” a veteran local police officer from Vitoria warned on Friday.

Local agents and

had deployed hours before the

a control operation of the 10 accesses to the

focused on avoiding glass bottles.

"In addition to verifying that we only had plastic drinks, they felt our fanny pack," Alejandro recalled hours later, 23 years old and wanting to recharge his batteries before the exhausting holiday weekend that will last until next Sunday.

The hundred

and local police deployed in pairs -uniformed and plainclothes- failed to detect any suspect of carrying sharp objects.

However, their presence in festive spaces such as

reinforced the sense of security of many women who requested directions to go to the Information Point for the prevention and action against Gender Violence.

More than 400 people attended during the first day of the Vitoria festivities to find out in more detail how to act in the event of receiving a puncture.

“There is concern, it is evident.

But we are not going to take a step back in the defense of women's rights and enjoying the public space that we have earned is a right", stressed the Councilor for Equality,

who has focused on raising awareness of neighbors and visitors.

Carlos Antolín,

hospitality entrepreneur and vice-president of

has been one of the architects of practically all the bars and cafeterias in the center of Vitoria remembering in 1,000 stickers and a hundred vinyls how to detect macho behavior and what to do in the face of any sign of assault.

Antolín regretted the complaints of the chupinazo, but confirmed that thousands of Vitorians "have taken to the streets" to enjoy the festivities after two years suspended due to the Covid-19 restrictions.

«There is a great desire to party and 99.99% of Vitorians and those who visit us want to have a good time;

It's going to be a very powerful weekend », he predicted at the start of Friday night Antolín.

But Vitoria, protected by police and stickers, does not lower its guard in the face of the new threat against women's freedom and that already accumulates some 63 complaints throughout Spain.

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• Vitoria-Gasteiz

• Ertzaintza

• Articles Josean Izarra