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Botellón
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Botellón is a custom that takes place mainly in the Spanish nightlife, which involves the gathering of a large number of young people mostly between the ages of 16 and 24. They gather outdoors to drink beverages previously acquired in shops (usually supermarkets), to listen to music and talk. This is often done because of the high prices in bars and being underage for bars and clubs.
The word botellón is an augmentative of botella (bottle) so the literal translation would be "big bottle".
Botellón is also used to refer to a drinking pack consisting of an alcoholic drink bottle, soda and ice, and so the word is also used in the Spanish equivalent of the phrase "let's go buy the botellón." It is also known as botelleo, botellona, or botelloneo.
Origins
The origin of the botellón is unknown.
Discussion
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Encyclopedia
Botellón is a custom that takes place mainly in the Spanish nightlife, which involves the gathering of a large number of young people mostly between the ages of 16 and 24. They gather outdoors to drink beverages previously acquired in shops (usually supermarkets), to listen to music and talk. This is often done because of the high prices in bars and being underage for bars and clubs.
The word botellón is an augmentative of botella (bottle) so the literal translation would be "big bottle".
Botellón is also used to refer to a drinking pack consisting of an alcoholic drink bottle, soda and ice, and so the word is also used in the Spanish equivalent of the phrase "let's go buy the botellón." It is also known as botelleo, botellona, or botelloneo.
Origins
The origin of the botellón is unknown. Drinking on the street has always been permitted in Spain but botellón is a phenomenon that appeared in the 1990s and has been growing gradually.
The Times Online writes:
Binge drinking — once dismissed by Spaniards as an affliction of the British, German and other northern European hordes who descend on their country every summer — is gaining ground among their own youth.
One of the reasons people enjoy botellón is because buying alcohol in a supermarket or other shop is several times cheaper than buying it in pubs or clubs and it prevents them drinking the so-called garrafón or adulterated alcohol.
Characteristics
The botellón usually lasts between two to four hours and is the first thing that many people do when going out every weekend. Afterwards people may head to the nightclubs and discos of the area. In some cities it attracts over 3,000 people every Saturday night and is a central part of the nightlife.
On some special occasions, such as the start of the spring or in traditional Spanish fiestas, an unusually large botellón can take place in daylight instead of at night, drawing young people from several cities. Such events are often spread entirely by word of mouth and other social communications such as chain e-mail and SMS. A botellón in Seville in 2004 attracted 70,000 people.
Amount of alcohol consumed
As with all events, the amount of actual alcohol depends on the tastes of the individuals present, and their tolerance to this substance. A typical botellón might consist of 1 bottle of alcohol (0.75 litre whisky, rum, vodka, etc) per 2, 3 or 4 people, mixed with ice and coca cola or fanta. Many people also bring beer, sangria, calimocho, (that are consumed in large quantities 2, 3 litres) or other drinks, that range from wine to cheap forged cocktails. The drinks are consumed from shared bottles or one-litre plastic glasses (minis, katxis,...). Some people choose not to drink alcohol at all, and may bring their own beverages to drink while enjoying the strong social aspect.
Controversy
Since prohibition of drinking on the street depends on the autonomous community, in some places botellón is not possible. In other places weather may prevent frequent opportunities for gathering outdoors. The activity is most widespread in the south where it is relatively warm year round, although the southernmost community of Andalucia forbade it on December 2006.
The main problems that botellón generates are:
- Noise: People in the botellón tend to be always talking, so depending on the number of people it can be very loud and can disturb citizens nearby. Large car audio systems also contribute to the amount of noise, which is one of the reasons botellons often take place in the less populated areas of the cities.
- Dirt: Botellón tends to result in large amounts of litter, and often participants urinate in the street as well. Some municipal authorities have created special cleaning plans to make the unofficial venues look clean the morning after, and attempt to charge participants to offset the costs. However, these cleaning plans can do nothing for private properties, often forcing homeowners to clean up after the night's festivities.
- Moral issues: Some find the botellón morally unacceptable. Drinking on the street is generally accepted by Spanish adults when there are traditional fiestas, but the moral issue with botellón whether it encourages young people to think that entertainment is all about alcohol. While young drinking is a controversial issue across the globe, botellón is a particularly open form of intoxication-based entertainment. It's also known that since botellón takes place in public places, it's unavoidable that many minors will be there. While the legal age for purchasing and drinking alcohol in Spain is 18 years of age, minors still get hold of alcohol.
- Traffic accidents: Many people drive every weekend to and from the location of the botellón. The result is that a considerable percentage of the driving accidents that occur in Spain are due to people driving back home from the nightlife.
- Security: Botellón is usually safe and in places where many congregate local authorities deploy security measures. But in some cases fights may arise between intoxicated individuals, leading to injuries.
- Economy: In some places the presence of many people near a hotel or other business can cause them economic losses. On the other side alcohol sellers and night clubs are positively affected.
- Health: It is well known that excessive drinking causes long term health problems. It can also cause immediate effects like alcoholic coma and death, and cases like these are not rare in Spain.
Measures against it (in Spain)
Since botellón usually takes place at night, a law was passed to expressly prohibit the sale of alcohol to the public after 10 p.m. It can then only be purchased inside a club, pub, disco, etc. in which case alcohol cannot be taken out of the place. This measure is currently easily avoided by buying the drinks before the selling limit hour, and keeping it at a residence or inside a vehicle. Since the enforcement of this measure is usually strong only in the botellón area some shops far from the area will sell alcohol illegally after the limit hour, risking fines.
Later on a law was passed which expressely prohibited the consumption on alcohol in the streets, exceptuating the local festivities. From that moment onwards people who chose to take part in a botellón risk a fine. Minors risk an additional fine for underage drinking, and may be taken home by the police.
The situation nonetheless has become so incontrollable that recently the Mayor of Seville passed on an act which prohibited the consumption of any kind of drink in the street. This resulted in ridiculous situations where bottled water is confiscated from thirty-year-olds.
In some cities the botellón has been taken to unpopulated areas by force, generally with no resistance by the people displaced. This is made by the local police cordoning the area and advising people to go some other place. Sometimes modifications have been made to public parks so they can be closed at night, not allowing the entrance of any person.
Since most of these measures, including the prohibition of drinking in the street, have failed to stop youth from taking part in botellones, recently some authorities have begun opening special places where young people can make botellón without causing problems, usually in distant industrial parks. However, this initiative has proven ineffective as the costs of maintenance of the "botellódromos" are sky-high due to littering and vandalism.
Macro-Botellons events on March 2006
In March 2006 a botellon of around 5000 people took place in Sevilla to celebrate the end of the exams period. It was not an especially big botellón compared to others that took place during the year, but it was aired on TV as a sensationalistic story.
This prompted youths from many other cities to create other macro-botellones (unusually large botellones) in order to surpass the one at Seville, even in those cities where it is forbidden.
This was echoed broadly in the media and brought the debate about botellón into the public eye.
In cities like Madrid, where botellón is forbidden, authorities deployed measures in advance to avoid the celebration, with some cases of confrontation between youths and police. In other ones, like Granada, where botellón is permitted, the authorities deployed special security measures to avoid problems in the celebration, concentrating up to 20,000 people into a controlled zone.
Macro-Botellons are also organized in Milan, in Italy, by students.
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