75% of the final bill for the concerts suspended in the Revetla of Sant Sebastià 2020 Revelta will be paid by Palma City Council and the rest will be paid by the insurance company, according to the Councillor for Citizen Participation and spokesperson for the Government team, Alberto Jarabo.
Once the sound equipment is installed and the stage is set up, Palma City Council has to pay up, whether the concert is suspended at the last minute or several hours before.
Mr Jarabo said the cost of contracting the concerts was 219,000 euros and that he considered all decisions that were taken were correct.
“We were in constant communications throughout Sunday and in previous days and even created a WhatsApp group, to ensure that security was front and centre at all of the meetings,” he said. "The weather forecast concluded that the party could be held and a pre-party evaluation was conducted at 4pm when strong gusts of wind had been predicted to hit Palma.”
Mr Jarabo is adamant that “tests were carried out in all the squares and says they went well, which is why it was decided that the party should continue and it was up to the public to decide whether to go or not."
But Palma City Council has been heavily criticised for changing the agenda of Revetla and calls for change are getting louder.
“The perception of the vast majority of people is that the Revetla needs to be revised and now we need to look closely at what has happened and decide what we want our party to be like,” he said.
Mr Jarabo said that while it is important to celebrate the festival of Sant Sebastià, the whole party doesn’t have to be on the same day.
“We need find a balance between maintaining the city’s identity and attracting well known national and international musicians and we also need to introduce activities in other neighbourhoods of the city,” he said.