Explanation
“El Botellon” by A. Ciurana
I want to explain why the so called “Botellon”, a very popular social phenomenon amongst young people, should be banned and finally eradicated from our Spanish streets. But first of all, let’s explain what this “Botellon” consists of. Well, literally speaking, if refers to a big bottle, but it’s a common practice in Spain in which the youth meet in the streets and car parks to drink cheap alcohol and other beverages bought in the local shops and supermarkets with the money they all paid.
So I am of the opinion that this informal get together shouldn’t be allowed by the local authorities. But why?
There are several reasons for this.
The chief reason is that youngsters who practise this social activity gather and meet in large groups of people in the streets, very late at night and till all hours. These weekend binge-drinkers do not only drink but they also talk in quite a loud fashion, and they sometimes shout, sing and play loud music, thus interfering with the sleeping hours and pattern of hundreds of neighbours.
Another reason is that these young and irresponsible drinkers leave the place in such a state, in a big mess when they finally decide to call it a day and go home. The whole pavement or the area in the car park where they met is covered with empty bottles of spirits and refreshments, as well as paper cups, plastic tumblers and other plastic bags. Completely unacceptable. It’s visually disgusting and highly unhygienic as this rubbish produced during the drinking session soils the streets, can be a danger to passers-by as they could slip, fall and hurt themselves, and it can even attract animals such as stray dogs and cats or other insects and rodents.
A further reason is that by doing so, they are contributing to the bad image that young people have. We see them with different eyes when they meet simply to drink for the sake of drinking, with no other excuse as to getting drunk at a very low cost. A cheap night out for them but not that/so cheap for the local government that needs to reinforce the cleaning brigades with more workers to clean and repair all the damage fuelled by alcohol drinking.
So now you can see why this topic affects a large section of the population in a city or town and the right to rest and sleep should prevail over the right to having fun in public places.
