Heightened security for the Sant Joan festival

THE celebrations for the traditional fiesta of Sant Joan started in Ciutadella yesterday at 2pm.
During the festival it is expected that 23'000 people will come by air and another 5'000 by boat. Those coming by boat will land in the port of Mahon, given that the port of Ciutadella is still closed. For this massive influx of people, the security forces on the island have prepared an extraordinary plan. The local police will work on three sections: incidents, fiestas and citizen security. Roads have been closed and vehicles removed from the public highways. During the fiestas, roads with access to the Contramurada will remain closed to traffic and today 45 officers from the local police force will patrol the streets at the same time as 80 people deployed by the Red Cross to act in case of incidents. The Red Cross will have six ambulances on hand and will be present at all the festive events in Ciutadella. They will be especially vigilant at the Caragol de Es Born, Ses Voltes and Santa Clara because of the risks involved, and at the games on Es Pla because of the amount of people attending.