"Sadly, for both the economic and sentimental impact it will have on so many families in Seville, there will be no Feria de Abril again in 2021".
With these emotionally charged words, the mayor of Seville, Juan Espadas, confirmed a rumour that has been circulating for days and that just needed official confirmation from the city hall.
A press release has finally issued by the city council on Wednesday, following a meeting with regional health ministers to study and analyse the projected level of the Covid-19 pathogen in the population (seroprevalence) in 2021 and taking into account the "imminent" start of the nationwide vaccination programme. According to the latest National COVID Seroprevalence Study, the current level in Seville is 8.4%, whilst the projected levels for the months of April and May next year are around 30%, well below the 60-70% required to provide any kind of herd immunity, which would have allowed council officials to relax measures.
In view of this forecast, the press release concluded that "conditions are not right for Seville to hold an event like the Feria de Abril with the inevitable huge crowds involved and the impossibilty of enforcing safety measures" across the 450,000m2 venue, and confirmed the cancellation of the world-famous spectacle.
Meetings will now be held with representatives of the sectors most affected financially by the cancellation, in order to analyse how best to implement measures "that will minimise the impact" of the situation.
Whilst PP members of the council said they would support Juan Espadas' team in the organisation of parallel activities to "incentivise the industry sectors most severely affected" by the cancellation of the Feria and pledged to take "an active part" in the special committee created by the mayor to deal with the problem, they also emphasised that the priority had to be to "safeguard people's health".
Ciudadanos spokesperson, Álvaro Pimentel, acknowledged that it was "a very difficult decision to take", but also agreed that it was the "responsible" option and promised his party's support for any economic initiatives aimed to help those most affected.
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