Sunshine in Europe brings young crowds out and into conflict with authorities

Blue skies and record temperatures this week brought crowds of young people to gather in parks across Europe in defiance of Covid-19 restrictions, signalling a race between vaccination efforts and the coming summer.

Young people are usually last on the list for vaccination and are more likely to live in cramped accommodation without gardens, heightening the appeal of gathering in public green spaces, and the challenge was illustrated across the Continent this week as temperatures exceeded 20 degrees.

There were dramatic scenes in Brussels in the Bois de le Cambre park on Thursday afternoon when police on horseback and with water cannons intervened to disperse a crowd of 1,500-2,000 revellers who had gathered to drink beer and dance at the side of a lake.

Footage showed the crowd mingling closely, many without face masks, and 22 people were arrested as the police crackdown was met with volleys of bottles.

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"I am well aware that for many people, especially young people, the Covid crisis is now lasting a very long time, and that it is not always easy to comply with the measures," said interior affairs minister Annelies Verlinde. "Especially now, when the better weather is also inviting us to get outside and meet each other."

But she urged the public to continue to follow rules that limit gatherings to four people, 1.5m apart, and prescribe face masks in busy places, saying breaches were a “slap in the face” to those adhering.

Flash parties

The Bois de le Cambre event began as an April Fool's joke on Facebook for a fake music festival that went viral and prompted a real gathering. Flash parties organised over social media have been a feature in the neighbouring Netherlands, where Amsterdam's Vondelpark was shut on Wednesday after crowds of revellers gathered around a statue following a call-out online.

Elsewhere, local authorities banned alcohol from a park in the eastern city of Arnhem after people brought in crates.

"There was a group of about a hundred young people in their early 20s, who, despite warnings, did not adhere to the corona rules," local mayor Ahmed Marcouch told Dutch media, which reported that parks across the Netherlands were left strewn with rubbish at the end of the day.

There were similar scenes in Germany, while police in Barcelona have assigned a unit to break up incidents of "botellón" – the practice of congregating in public spaces to socialise and drink.

Socio-economic issue

Researchers say that the risk of coronavirus transmission is far lower outdoors than in indoor settings due to the fresh air, but they stress that distancing and the use of face masks is still important to curb the spread.

Michelle Kelly-Irving, a social epidemiologist based in France, said the living conditions of young people needed to be taken into account.

“What you’re observing has a big social context to it. People who are either in their late teens or early 20s have now been dealing with this for a year. The students are often living in really bad circumstances in their accommodation, in cramped or overcrowded circumstances, or completely on their own,” Dr Kelly-Irving said.

“We know it’s been very hard on mental health, and with Covid, you’re at high risk of contamination if you’re living in overcrowded circumstances where people can’t isolate,” she added.

“We can’t dismiss it and simply say young people are acting up. We have to look at this from a more socio-economic point of view and ask: how do we manage the next couple of months? You can’t expect people to apply things equally when they are living in very different circumstances to begin with.”