The seven officers that make up the Local Police of Haría were overwhelmed when several outbreaks of fights between young people became the protagonists of what was going to be a festive night in the coastal town of Arrieta. At about 2:30 in the morning, after the police unsuccessfully tried to disperse the young people between 15 and 20 years old who were causing the conflict, "we had to take drastic measures and suspend the festival", explains Carmen Gloria, Councilor for Police in Haría.
And it is that the Civil Guard had to intervene with the arrest of a 20-year-old who was carrying a large knife "that he showed to people in a threatening attitude", according to the Civil Guard, and who was also aggressive with the agents when they asked him for documentation. Finally, the young man of Peruvian origin was arrested and charged with disobedience to the agents.
Although the Civil Guard does not consider what happened a fight, the truth is that for the first time the Carmen festival in Arrieta had to be suspended. According to the Councilor for Police, the young people involved not only fought with fists, but also wielding bottles.
Carmen Gloria believes that the young people who triggered the conflict could be members of "organized gangs" that came from other parts of the island "to ruin the festival". According to estimates by the City Council, about 3,500 people attended the party, most of them from outside the municipality, who according to the councilor "are welcome, but not the few who come looking for a fight." Fortunately, there were no injuries that required being transferred to receive medical attention because, according to Carmen Gloria, only "small physical damages to some children were recorded, but nothing serious".
The councilor has declared to La Voz that they have already sent a letter to the island director of the General State Administration, Carmelo García Déniz, asking for his collaboration because she understands that "it cannot be that we have to suspend the festival that we organize for our young people, who deserve it".
