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San Juan: The morning after the night before

The clean-up operation was underway after a night in which hundreds of thousands of people across Spain celebrated the summer solstice with a festival of fire.

Published: 24 June 2015 12:04 CEST
San Juan: The morning after the night before
Revellers dance around a bonfire to celebrate the summer solstice. Archive photo: AFP

Every region of Spain has local traditions when it comes to celebrating on the eve of the feast of St John (San Juan) usually incorporating the elements of fire and water.

In coastal areas, townsfolk head to the beach for a night of revelry around huge bonfires, with dancing, drinking and feasting often culminating a midnight dip in the ocean.

 

 

In some places elaborate efigies are thrown into the flames to represent Judas Escariot. In other traditions people leap through the flames in a bid to cleanse sins and store up the sun’s energy for the year ahead.

Menorca has the strange tradition of horses brought among the crowds to dance and prance while onlookers attempt to touch the equine belly, a feat that ensures good luck for the year.

A horse rears in a crowd during the traditional San Juan (Saint John) festival in the town of Ciutadella, on the Balearic Island of Menorca on the eve of Saint John's day on June 23th 2015 Photo: Jaime Reina / AFP

In Catalonia, where the Sant Joan parties are particularly popular and the day of June 24th is a public holiday, authorities launched an early morning clean up operation to rid the beaches of overindulgent partygoers and the detritus they left behind.

Dozens of teams from Barcelona’s different police forces hit the beach at dawn to evict revelers from a 5km stretch of beach in the Catalan capital.

 

 

Some 500 extra rubbish bins and 84 additional waste containers had been placed along the beach to collect litter and cleaning teams swooped down on the beach in order to ensure it was ready to welcome sunbathers later in the day.

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FIRE

Situation ‘unstable’ at Copenhagen’s old stock exchange after fire

Three days after a fire which ravaged Copenhagen's historic former stock exchange broke out, emergency services said Friday that the situation was "unstable" due to equipment issues and a strong breeze.

Published: 19 April 2024 17:44 CEST
Situation 'unstable' at Copenhagen's old stock exchange after fire

In the morning, during work to dismantle the scaffolding surrounding the building, a crane’s cutters came loose for as of yet unknown reasons.

It is currently wedged between the scaffolding — put up for the renovation of the historic building that was ongoing — and what remains of the walls.

“It is affecting our efforts”, Tim Ole Simonsen, leader of the operation at the rescue services, told a press conference.

Coupled with the wind picking up, the incident, which has temporarily halted work on dismantling the scaffolding, has made the situation “unstable”.

“The wind is blowing harder and harder, and there are tarps over the scaffolding that can catch the wind,” Simonsen said.

He added that this increases the risks, in particular of further collapse of the burnt-out facade which started collapsing late Thursday afternoon.

Located close to the Christiansborg parliament and seat of government, the Borsen building was commissioned by King Christian IV and built between 1619 and 1640. It was the stock exchange until the 1970s.

The fire began Tuesday morning under the copper roof of the building, which was undergoing renovations ahead of its 400th anniversary.

The cause of the blaze was unknown and Copenhagen police said Wednesday that a major investigation had been launched.

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