The murga Los Desahuciados has announced that it will not participate in the murga contest of the next Arrecife Carnival, blaming the Consistory in part for this. “We do not feel the support of the Arrecife City Council when it comes to facing rehearsals effectively and safely,” criticizes the carnival group.
In a statement, it explains that the murga groups asked the City Council to provide them with spaces with the necessary dimensions to carry out the rehearsals "with greater security”, such as schools or soccer fields. However, that request "was rejected" by the Consistory, which they claim only offered them the Arecife Civic Center, "a place whose availability is very limited as it has to be shared with the rest of the groups".
According to them, that forced them to rehearse "in very difficult conditions" inside their own premises, where the current restrictions due to Covid-19 only allow 12 people to meet. "“Taking into account the current restrictions, in addition to the uncertainty of how the situation will evolve and rejecting any idea of breaching health measures, we have taken stock of the situation on a personal level and, after listening to our murgueros and families, we made the difficult decision not to participate in the next edition of the Arrecife contest,” adds Los Desahuciados.
"We believe that the Arrecife Carnival in general, and specifically the Murga Contest, should be taken from a position of greater respect and seriousness by the institutions, having an organization that lives up to its groups and the cultural demands that we have on our island," he questions.
However, he also asks for "respect" for the groups that have decided to continue, "wishing them the best of luck in the contest and in the Carnival." In addition to Los Desahuciados, so far also the murga Las Inadaptadas has ruled out its participation in the contest.
