LISBON, Portugal (AP) – The Portuguese fitness government is allowing the country’s Communist Party to allow another 16,500 people to attend its annual festival next weekend, an unusually higher number for a rally in Europe amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The permit provoked outrage that the government reduced for months the number of people allowed to participate in other public events, forcing many to cancel.
The announcement came when the center-left socialist government seeks policies from other parties, adding the Communists, to its 2021 spending plan.
The festival, called Festa do Avante, offers concerts and political speeches in a fenced domain of the countryside south of Lisbon. In recent years, it has attracted some 100,000 people of a wide variety of ages during their 3 days.
The occasion is a primary gain for the Communist Party, which has 10 seats in the Portuguese Parliament of 230 seats.
The Health Directorate announced Monday that possibly another 16,563 people would be inside the festival at any time, although “there is a genuine threat that the event will insoard other people with or without symptoms will move. “The Communist Party had sought to sell 33,000 tickets a day this year.
Authorities say festival-goers should remain separated by at least two metres, unless they focus on a home; concerts can only take place with remote seats for the public; you can’t sell alcohol after 8 p. m. and anyone over the age of 10 must wear a mask, among other measures.
The Minister of Health, Marta Temido, said that “the regulations are developed”.
“We expect organizers to put them into effect and make sure others respect them,” he said at a press conference.
The calculation of the number of other people who can attend the festival was based on the criteria used to determine how many other people may be on the beaches, authorities said.