Organizational chaos at the Spanish GP: collapsed accesses, water shortages, very poor public transport...

2022-06-15 12:11:15 By : Ms. Mae Tian

The enthusiasm with which the fans have returned to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmeló after two years of restrictions due to the pandemic has turned into outrage since the Spanish GP on Saturday.Despite the fact that a full house had been predicted for weeks during the three days, the organizers of the race did not foresee the problems that the success of ticket sales could entail, which led to absolute chaos, especially when leaving the Circuit.Numerous fans have shown their discomfort on social networks after experiencing what they describe as "one of the worst days" on their visits to the Catalan track.Infrastructure problems were already noted from early on Saturday.From the organization they asked the fans to come by public transport, but even so, many decided to go in their private cars.To do this, tickets were sold to a parking lot that, in the words of a fan in conversation with this medium, "was in the middle of the mountain.""It's a piece of mountain, you buy a ticket and nobody checks it when you park. They practically have no signage. When you leave the parking lot, nobody controls the traffic and therefore chaos is formed," says this spectator, who traveled from Galicia to Barcelona to watch the race.To see more clearly what happened, David Pereira, a fan for many years who has not missed his appointment with the Spanish GP since 2016, has shared a very graphic thread on twitter about it where he shows his indignation because that parking lot was payment... although not for everyone: as there was no access control, many slipped in, which generated even more problems.Platform affected by the organization of the @Circuitcat_es car park.Let's unite here to make a legal claim for our money.Please RTThose who heeded the organization's recommendations found themselves in an even worse situation.According to several fans, some took more than four hours between when they were able to leave the Circuit until they reached the Cercanías trains, whose frequency was not increased compared to a normal Saturday and huge queues formed.Problems, however, also occurred upon arrival."Taking the train line from Barcelona is simple and good, but when you get to the town of Montmeló, the chaos begins. To catch the shuttle buses, you have to walk for 10 minutes first, and since they only have four of these buses going around, you have to do an hour in line to get on. They are paid buses and the driver charges only in cash, so they take a long time to fill up before starting," explains the aforementioned Galician fan."Then these are shuttle buses that on the Circuit website say that they go through all the gates of the circuit and you get off at your own, but this is a lie. These buses take a 10-minute journey and leave you very far. The closest door is number 4 (10 minutes walking to it again), but ours was number 6 and it took us 20 minutes from where the bus left us", laments this fan, who missed the third free practice on Saturday for this reason.@Generalitat_cat @Adif_es we have been queuing for two hours already.And what we have left.This is the state right now outside Montmeló station to catch a fucking train.Shame falls far short.I… I have to shit on your fucking mother and your shitty management.pic.twitter.com/xt6utmuzjcIf the arrival at the Circuit was complicated, the departure was much more so because, once again, the organization was not up to the task."As we already saw the percale of the outward journey, on the way back we walked to the Montmeló train station. From gate 6 to there we only took 25 minutes, so you will tell me the pantomime of the shuttle buses. In addition, this service this bus ended at 6:00 p.m., when the activity on the track ended at 6:40 p.m. (F2 race), which was when we left," he says.But when they reached town, the situation worsened.Montmeló is a relatively small town, and on the days of the MotoGP or F1 Grand Prix it is where it shows."Hors of people accumulated at the gates of the station and an endless queue that practically did not advance. From the time we got to the queue until we were able to get on the train, they spent 2 and a half hours waiting standing up. Summary: from gate 6 of the Circuit It took almost 4 hours to reach the center of Barcelona by Cercanías", he explains, as well as attaching a photo of how the train platforms were placed at the station.Once inside the circuit and already seated, the organization did not improve much either.Despite the intense heat that devastated Montmeló throughout the weekend, there was a worrying shortage of water at the food stalls set up near the stands."There are very few beach bars selling food and drinks (less than 1 per tier) and they are not well stocked. Queues lasted an hour to buy something and just before qualifying began they hung up the sign that there was no more water. It was 32º in the sun," he complains.In addition, he also laments that there were few portable toilets ("the only place to cool off"), leaving many fans to choose between holding their needs to insane limits or searching for some bush.The Spanish GP is usually one of the most popular not only with national fans, but also foreign ones.They have also suffered from problems accessing and leaving the circuit, something that they have shown on their social networks from the first hour.Experienced journalists, such as the British Jennie Gow or the German Fritz-Dieter Rencken, have also shown their discomfort and have acted as a speaker for the complaints of the fans.One thing certain: @Circuitcat_eng facilities NOT to @F1 stndrds: horror stories abt fans waiting at gates for hrs in 30C temp, traffic jams in/out - 30mins to car move length - substandard catering, crap comm infrastructure.Shudder to think what race day will be like for fansOh Jen, it's been a nightmare…and I've been here many times before.Never like this.Locked in on Thursday, gates shut, rude security, cannot park despite prepaying for it, cannot get drinks or food as fewer stalls and queues so long.Current view, for the last 1hr 25 mins.🤦‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/AE4Iy1U05XAny reproduction without the written permission of the company is prohibited for the purposes of article 32.1, second paragraph, of the Law on Intellectual Property.Likewise, for the purposes established in article 33.1 of the Intellectual Property Law, the company records the corresponding reservation of rights, by itself and through its editors or authors.