Over 1,000 personnel will be on duty to oversee safety and security during this year’s Sitges Carnival, in what is considered to be the second most attended event in Catalonia, after the Mobile World Congress.
With around 250,000 people expected to attend throughout the entire Carnival week, the details of the security operation were announced at a recent extraordinary board meeting of local security, attended by the Catalan Minister for Interior, Joan Ignasi Elena, the Mayor of Sitges, Aurora Carbonell, together with representatives from the Sitges Local Police, the Mossos d’Esquadra, EMS (ambulance service), Civil Protection, the Red Cross and Fire Brigade.
Joan Ignasi Elena said: ‘We want to show support for a great cultural and festive event in the country such as the Sitges Carnival. It is important that there are particularly relevant security measures. We put a lot of resources into it so that the party takes centre stage and everyone can enjoy it.’
The presence of Mossos d’Esquadra officers will be strengthened to guarantee public order, and they will also use drones to control the influx and mobility of people, providing the Sitges Operational Coordination Centre (CECOR) with images from strategic points.
According to the Catalan minister, ‘there will be a large presence from all specialities of the Mossos, from investigation, to public security, as well as plainclothes police’. He said that a ‘Daga Plan’ would also be activated, linked to the control of knives and other weapons, as well as patrols monitoring sexist violence, and an anti-terrorist unit, as part of the Mossos ‘Specific Operational Plan’.
There will also be a private surveillance service of 135 officers who will monitor and control the different access points along the route of the street, as well as the breakwaters and the Hort de Can Falç.
The Mayor of Sitges, Aurora Carbonell, said that ‘it is a very extensive security operation to guarantee the smooth running of the Carnival’ and stressed that ‘we will have Purple Points in Paseo de la Ribera and in Hort de Can Falç, in order to offer the necessary support in case of any sexist and lgtbi-phobic attacks’. She added that ‘in recent years there has been a decrease in incidents during Carnival Week and at the same time also a reduction in those requiring medical assistance’.
The phone number for emergency calls is 112.
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