Live music or no live music – who can give us the definitive answer?

All through the pandemic live entertainment has been a grey area, as far as whether it is allowed or not and what is permitted and what isn’t permitted. There are things we know and things we don’t know, but who can give us the definitive answer as to what is allowed, where it is allowed, and when it is allowed?

Thousands of tourists every year flock to the islands to see the wealth of talent on offer in the bars, entertainment venues, and hotels in the holiday resorts of the Canary Islands. Many of the business owners and the entertainers themselves have been the hardest hit during the pandemic, as 18 months later there is still confusion about when and where they can perform to earn a living.

Firstly, let’s look at what we do know, focusing on alert Levels 3 and 4 as that represents the current situation of the major islands. According to the BOC, any activity that encourages interaction, e.g. karaoke, is forbidden because of sharing microphones, also dancing is not permitted, or is group singing (choirs or church congregations) when close to people because of the spread of the virus through micro-droplets.

In previous publications of the Oficial Boletin, it stated that entertainers must perform in a designated performance area, e.g. a stage or a cordoned off area, which is not accessible by other people, so not a public doorway for example, and that the front of the area must be at least 2 metres from the closest audience members at all times, and that performers must stay in this area and not ‘wander’ amongst the audience. If performers can’t meet these conditions, they must wear a mask when performing.

All these things make sense to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, and mean that people can go and watch a show but must stay in their seats, and the entertainers must stay in their performance area. However, the grey area seems to have got much greyer!

Now, there seems to be different legislations in different municipalities, which begs the following questions:

- Why is one bar or venue 100 metres from another, but in a different municipality (eg either side of the river bed which is the border of Adeje and Arona in south Tenerife), allowed to have live music, whereas the other is told that live entertainment is illegal and only background ambient music is permitted?

- Why in this same municipality are hotels allowed live entertainment but the bars aren’t?

- Who will give us the definitive answer as to what is actually allowed?

People are also asking how shows in arenas or auditoriums are permitted, but these venues come under the same classification as cinemas because of the seating layout. They are allowed a maximum of 55% of capacity with 2 empty seats between ones taken (in a maximum of 4 together) with an empty row behind. In the case of the Auditorio Infanta Leonor in Los Cristianos, it means that only 200 of the 700 seats can be used, which is 28.5%, and all audience members must use their Covid certificate for entry.

At time of publication, we have contacted local town halls and the police to try and get a definitive answer, but at this stage have had no replies. If you are any the wiser, please tell us!