Beach festival in Marbella investigated for refusing access to those with food and drink

A popular music festival on the Costa del Sol is being investigated after the organisers prohibited entry to anyone who was carrying food or drink.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has launched an investigation into DQG Norte, AIE - the organisers of the Reggaeton Beach Festival held in Marbella on 8 July, as well as in other Spanish cities - for allegedly searching and then refusing entry to attendees who were carrying food or drinks.

Reggaeton Beach Festival specifies on its website that you can enter its festivals with certain food and drink such as a small bottle of water, a piece of fruit, a sandwich or a sealed snack. However, in a separate section, it states that snacks or homemade food sealed with foil would not be accepted.

Apart from this confusion, prohibiting food and drinks to be brought in from outside is a standard rule in most of the country's musical events - a practice that consumer group FACUA has repeatedly called out to authorities as abusive.

However, in this case, there were several complaints across various regions at the same time, which landed Reggaeton Beach Festival in hot water. Hundreds-of-thousands of people attend its festivals around the country each year, including the 30,000 in two days at the Marbella event last month.

The heads of Consumer Affairs of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands regions urged the national Ministry of Alberto Garzón to act. The Government then made a reform of the general law to protect the rights of consumers at music festivals which could set a precedent for future events.

But the reform does not only refer to the issue of food and drink. Consumer Affairs, from the complaint of FACUA, is also investigating the payment system through cashless wristbands. It is the way to pay within the festival grounds, but at the end of the event the remaining money is not returned if it is less than two euros.

The organiser justified this by the management costs, which amount to 1.50 euros. According to the ministry, this would constitute an infringement, as is the refusal to accept payment in cash. This is the first time that the Ministry has taken this measure with a music festival, and the fines could reach one million euros.

The Reggaeton Beach Festival has scheduled 11 events in locations throughout Spain during the summer. In Madrid, the City Council withdrew its license due to safety reasons. It has already been held in Marbella, Marina D'Or, Asturias, Tenerife, Benidorm, Mallorca, Barcelona and Santander. The next ones will be held in Torrevieja (5-6 August) and in Galicia (12-13 August).