Municipal services bolstered for the celebrations on the eve of Sant Joan
Barcelona City Council is running a special operation to ensure safety, mobility and cleaning on the shortest night of the year. The city’s beaches will start being cleared at 6 am on Monday 24, while metro and tram services will be operating around the clock. A thousand cleaning workers and over 500 vehicles will be ensuring public spaces are clean once the celebrations are over. The City Police will also be operating citywide to prevent incidents, particularly at the beaches, in woodland areas and places where crowds may gather. The Fire Service will also be running a special prevention operation in woodland areas.
Special operation by the City Police and the Barcelona Fire Service
The City Police will be operating all over the city to prevent incidents that may affect people’s safety, mobility and public order. Breathalyser and drug-driving checkpoints will also be increased. The police corps will be controlling the flow of people at each end of Barceloneta beach.
Special attention will also be given to unauthorised vending, with moves to stop inappropriate parking by caravans, mobile homes, vans and lorries that may be used as storage facilities or for the transport of equipment for unauthorised parties.
In conjunction with the Mossos d’Esquadra police corps, the beaches will start being cleared from 6.30 am on Monday, 24 June, so that cleaning services can get to work and leave the beaches ready for bathers.
In the days leading up to the eve of Sant Joan, the Barcelona Fire Service has been inspecting premises selling fireworks and the 112 fireworks sales booths in the city, ensuring they comply with safety measures. The corps has also validated four large bonfire sites: one in L’Eixample, one in Sant Andreu and two in Sant Martí.
During the celebrations, the Fire Service will be stepping up its presence in woodland areas to prevent fires there. The City Police will also have more officers at spaces where celebrations are being held, in crowded places, at the beaches and in the city centre.
A clean and safe beach
Rescue equipment available at the city’s beaches will consist of a dozen lifeguards, a surveillance boat, three ambulances, a rapid-response medical vehicle and a 4×4 vehicle. If necessary, the drone service will be activated to provide a quick and efficient response.
To minimise the effects of the celebrations at the city’s ten beaches, municipal cleaning services will be mounting a special operation starting at 6.30 am on Monday, 24 June, with an extra 470 workers and 222 vehicles in addition the usual teams operating on public holidays. Over a thousand cleaning staff will be operating in the city in all.
During the afternoon, over 5,400 litter bins and seventy waste containers will be installed at the beaches for general waste, particularly packaging and recyclable materials.
Purple point and safe routes
A purple point will be operating at the Bogatell groyne, for prevention and support against sexist violence and LGBTI-phobia. This service will be in place from 10 pm on Sunday, 23 June, to 6 am on Monday, 24 June.
The City Police have designed safe routes from recreational areas to the nearest public transport stops, which they will be patrolling.
Public transport open all night
During the celebrations for Sant Joan, the public transport network will be ensuring nigh-time mobility in the city by laying on extra services:
- Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) will be operating the metro service all through the night, with trains running without interruption from 5 am on Saturday, 22 June, to midnight on Monday, 24 June (67 hours of continuous service). For more information, check the status of services on the TMB website.
- The Tram will also be operating all night: Trambaix and Trambesòs lines will be running services from 5 am on Sunday, 23 June, until midnight on Monday, 24 June.
- Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) will be operating trains until 2 am on Monday, with regular services resuming from 5 am the same morning. For times and routes, check FGC.cat.
- Rodalies de Catalunya – RENFE will be laying on trains with more capacity between Barcelona and towns in the counties of Garraf, Penedès, Baix Llobregat, Vallès Occidental, Vallès Oriental and Maresme. For times, check gencat.cat.
