Almudena Alvarez | Palencia (EFE).- Sun cream, but also raincoats due to the threat of a storm, balloons and floats “not to be lost”, sandwiches and drinks of all colors and lots of “brilli brilli” have dyed the Ribera Sur park in Palencia with fun at the ITA Festival, which brought together more than 12,000 young people from different Spanish provinces this Wednesday.
Hours before the venue opened, everything was ready so that nothing would spoil the party that the students of Agricultural Engineering in Palencia have organized for more than a decade and that in recent years has hung the full sign in the Ribera Sur Park with a capacity of 12,000 people, more than 200 police officers, 60 buses from other provinces and more than eight hours of guaranteed fun with a dozen DJs.
Carrying huge refrigerators, supermarket bags and liters and more liters of drink, the young people have been patient in long queues at the entrance, under the watchful eye of the Local and National Police, which this Friday have reinforced their troops with aerial means, radio patrols, canine guides, intervention units, information units, citizen security and foreigners and two drones to see everything and anti-drones to detect unauthorized intruders.
“The objective is to protect the young people who have come to the party and the citizens so that the event can run smoothly,” Andrés Alonso, chief inspector of the National Police in charge of the ITA operation, explained to EFE.
Plainclothes agents and canine handlers have taken care that drugs do not enter the premises and 65 workers from the private security company hired by the organizers have prevented the access of minors and dangerous objects such as cans, glass bottles, rigid refrigerators from entering or umbrella.
“We are being more rigorous in access because we are detecting more rogue this year when it comes to introducing glass and cans or minors who have tried to access with the manipulated ID,” Javier Atienza, head of the security company, assured EFE.
Don’t stop the rhythm
A dozen DJs followed one another on stage, including Héctor Calderón, a regular at the ITA, to guarantee fun and ensure that the rhythm never stopped.
“We come every year because it is an incredible party,” a group of friends who have come from Jaén, Zamora, Cantabria, Valladolid and Burgos commented to EFE, loaded with “lots of drinks, lots of food, glasses, sunscreen, raincoats for if it rains and three floats to mark territory and find if they get lost”.
“We have been coming here for many years and we already know what is needed”, they add.
From Segovia and Soria, Miguel and Diego, arrived for the first time and they did not stop being “amazing with the atmosphere” because they did not imagine that “there would be so many people”. Guille, who came from Orense and her group of friends, UVa students, did not lack anything either: sandwiches, salty cookies, calimocho, water, sun cream and lots of “brilli brilli”.
And although many had arrived in one of the 60 buses arranged by the organization, the bulk of the party was dyed in the purple of Palencia, with many students willing to enjoy the day, “the music, the festival atmosphere and the people”, as Daniela and Lucia stated. “And above all to recharge the batteries before the dreaded final exams,” added Marta.
university party
And although the ITA is famous as a university party where alcohol predominates, the truth is that the most common incidents are “heat strokes, fractures, sprains or respiratory problems in allergic people”, as he has detailed to EFE Antonio Tejedor, responsible for the health device, made up of two field hospitals with around twenty beds, four ambulances, two doctors, three nurses and 60 volunteers.
Right next to the command post, two Red Cross volunteers had everything ready to report or act in situations of harassment and sexist attacks with their fingers crossed so they wouldn’t have to work all day.
There have been no shortage of onlookers stationed outside the venue to see the atmosphere. Like Silvano and María José, who have become true fans of the ITA: “we come every year to see it and this year we have brought our chairs because we have been here all morning,” they told EFE.