The annual end-of-school "macrobotellon" gathering takes places tonight in Puerto Alcudia. Teenagers at regular secondary and Baccalaureate levels descend on Alcudia from various municipalities; some four thousand are expected.
The Guardia Civil, Civil Protection, local police and police tutors from Alcudia, Inca, Manacor, Muro, Pollensa, Porreres, Sa Pobla and Santa Margalida will all be involved in seeking to maintain order and to protect the teenagers. One of the greatest concerns with this event is drinking. Town halls and parents associations have been making efforts to curb drinking, and police in Alcudia will be paying particular attention to bars and checking that they are not selling alcohol to minors.
Over the past couple of weeks there have been information meetings for parents in the different municipalities as well as for pupils - all aimed at trying to prevent drinking. A large number of those attending are of course underage.
Rafel Cobas is the coordinator of the police tutors. He says that around 7,000 teenagers had initially been expected last year. A security effort managed to prevent some 2,000 attending. There was a spontaneous party a week later. This attracted around 1,000 youngsters, and there was no special control because it was spontaneous.
Transport for the event typically now involves the hiring of coaches. Although the majority of the teenagers are from municipalities in the north, they can come from anywhere. Cobas knows that a coach from Montuiri has been organised.
Despite the numbers and the concerns, there are rarely any serious incidents. Last year, two teenagers needed to be taken to hospital because of the effects of alcohol.
