Police Break Up Tenerife Covid Beach Party
Spanish police have broken up a secret beach party in Tenerife where 62 revellers were caught breaking social distance measures and accused of purposefully spreading COVID-19.
The incident took place at Los Patos Beach in the municipality of La Orotava in the north of Tenerife, the largest of the eight Spanish Canary Islands.
The Civil Guard and local police evicted 62 people who were camping on the remote beach in a protected area of the municipality.
The police said on Twitter: “The Civil Guard has broken up a beach get-together to spread COVID-19 in this area with limited access.”
Local newspaper La Opinion de Murcia report local security councillor Narciso Perez said the revellers had gathered on the beach with the “purpose of helping to spread COVID-19”.
The event was reportedly organised on social media and the authorities learned about it in advance.
Local newspaper Canarias 7 said that the beach is currently closed due to risk of landslides on the route down to the coast.
The police were responding to calls from the Canary Islands government to reinforce the health measures in place to prevent the spread of the virus.
The regional government has previously highlighted the need to stop illegal parties and get-togethers where attendees do not wear face masks or respect social distancing.
Breaking such measures can lead to a minimum fine of 100 EUR (90.4 GBP).
The police also broke up a party with 78 revellers in the municipality of Guimar on Tenerife’s east coast on 7th August.
Four people were reportedly fined for different unspecified offences.
According to the latest figures from the Johns Hopkins University, Spain has registered 314,362 cases of COVID-19 and 28,503 related deaths.