Illegal raves taking off across Europe

LONDON/LISBON • From the housing blocks of London to the beaches of Portugal, thousands of young people are holding illegal raves and parties across Europe, yearning for contact and bursting with energy after the solitude of the coronavirus lockdown.

Such mass gatherings have added to fears that a second deadly wave of infections could sweep across Europe.

Police have sometimes struggled to disperse the illegal parties with clashes in London where crowds attacked officers with bottles and set upon patrol cars on Wednesday, leaving 22 police injured.

“We’ve seen large numbers of people completely flouting the health regulations, seeming not to care at all about their own or their families’ health, wanting to have large parties,” London police chief Cressida Dick said.

“It’s hot, some people have drunk far too much, some people are just angry and aggressive and some are just plain violent.”

Police in the British capital dispersed several parties overnight. They are also investigating rape, drug offences and stabbings at illegal raves in other cities.

As the exuberance of greater freedom explodes into the European summer after the gloom of the lockdown, parties have also popped up in Germany and France and on the sands of Portugal’s Atlantic beaches.

Thousands gathered in the squares of Portugal’s cities of Porto and Braga over the weekend to party in the summer heat.

“Join us on this magical journey in the forest,” read one message circulating on social media about a gathering on a hidden beach west of Lisbon. “Let’s get together and share some loving, vibes and music.”

In Berlin, a city famous for its nightlife from clubs to outdoor raves, several hundred people have gathered outside at Hasenheide Park in recent weeks to dance into the night.

“I think people are just longing to socially connect,” Berlin-based DJ Elias Dore said, saying that thousands of young people would normally be dancing under the open skies of European festivals this summer.

Authorities are concerned that young people who often have lighter symptoms or are asymptomatic could be contracting and spreading the virus without realizing it.

And with thousands of anonymous attendees going in and out of events, proper testing and tracing to prove whether contagion is happening will be virtually impossible, according to Dr. Celso Cunha, a virologist at the University of Lisbon.

“Even if they don’t usually get as ill, young people still transmit the virus,” he said.