The weekend of partying and motorcycles turned into a trap. The Motorbeach festival, held in Vinuesa (Soria, 825 inhabitants), sells “the roar of freedom” between “adrenaline” and the “free spirit” with one rule: “Safety is not a restriction: it is what makes true freedom possible.” The party started on Friday and ended on Sunday with this outcome: motorcycles buzzing through pedestrian-only areas, chaos, and one death. The Civil Guard has filed more than 435 complaints and attendees have criticized on social media the “fear” caused by uncontrolled motorcycles and disrespectful riders: “It was as easy as causing trouble on the circuit and not in the camping or circulation areas.”
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The most serious incident happened on Friday night. A 24-year-old young woman from Asturias was seriously injured in an accident. She died at the Burgos Hospital. The event continued as if nothing had happened. Attendees, with a maximum of 4,000 according to the license but suspected of exceeding the crowd, enjoyed themselves near a reservoir, one of the attractions promoted by the organization, as well as camping areas and concerts. The problem, as confirmed by many videos posted on social media, was the excesses: all kinds of irresponsible stunts are seen in unauthorized areas, helmets are not used, there are several people on individual vehicles, and a cloud of sandstone and dust hangs in the air, making breathing and vision difficult, a bad situation when motorcycles are buzzing where they shouldn’t be.
Content creator Aitanaful, with 85,000 followers, posted a video criticizing the management of Motorbeach. “Personally, I would have closed the event immediately,” she says regarding the death of a female rider. The motorcycle enthusiast admits to feeling “fear” at a “wild” festival where “you couldn’t see anything” and “you feel like you have no escape”: it was necessary to go with flashlights between concert areas and tents, all with motorcycles invading pedestrian spaces, without marked paths. “I didn’t know it was going to get so out of control,” she admits. Motorcyclist Irene de la Cuesta, with 39,500 followers, confirms “motorcycles everywhere,” “chaos,” and this message: “This event has been a series of blunders from day one! They have not had the responsibility to guide and organize the festival according to the number of people they brought in… and it has been a shame and a tragedy.” EL PAÍS has contacted the Motorbeach organization and has not received a response.
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Searching Instagram for “Motorbeach” shows many users, both well-known in the scene and anonymous, lamenting the weekend. User Juan Martínez Velasco, with 23,200 followers, sums it up like this: “Before they sold freedom and rebellion but with respect. Now they sell anarchy, chaos, and a lawless city.” The entry cost 90 euros and other profiles have condemned that for that price, beyond the typical problems of these events with access to bathrooms or food and drink, there was “a worrying lack of security and control, with overselling of tickets, numerous injuries among attendees, and even news of the possible death of a young woman, an event that, if confirmed, should lead to a deep reflection on the event’s prevention and response measures.” Sadly, the news was confirmed.
The Civil Guard filed more than 435 complaints, many for “traffic violations” or motorcycle permits, with possible crimes for possession of drugs, weapons, unauthorized camping, disobedience, damage to vegetation cover, and violations involving boats and jet skis, in addition to 21 crimes against road safety. Three attendees have reported their motorcycles stolen and a van stolen in Madrid weeks ago appeared there. Officers estimate that the forecast of 4,000 people “was widely exceeded.” The mayor of Vinuesa, Juan Ramón Soria (PP), condemns the incidents: “The license had conditions about the maximum sales level, it is necessary to request documentation about overcrowding, health, and safety from the promoter and check if the requirements have been met.” “The user profile has changed, nothing like the previous four editions: no civility, looking for trouble, much younger… the essence has been lost, I don’t know if it’s because of the promoter or a group that came to ruin it,” he criticizes.
EL PAÍS has contacted several regular attendees who have been going to Motorbeach since it was held in Asturias before moving to Soria. One, requesting anonymity, talks about a space “without access controls, signs, or rules, overwhelmed from minute zero.” This motorcyclist criticizes the new attendees, disrespectful, “riding recklessly with great risk, the Civil Guard dedicated themselves to sanctioning but not to providing security or preventing risks.” This attendee laments the death of the young woman and two injured, one hospitalized. He saw an accident: there was no ambulance and it took “more than an hour to arrive,” with the man on the ground “with his leg and face destroyed.” The accidents, without management changing anything, “were practically at the same point, a straight asphalt stretch like the main avenue of the festival and camping.” EL PAÍS has seen videos of that narrow straight, with motorcycles, cars, walkers, and even cows. La Nueva España has reported that the deceased was doing a wheelie on the motorcycle when she collided with an off-road vehicle.
The user blames the organization, the “vandals” new attendees who do not respect the codes, and influencers who promoted Motorbeach: “A message was sent to their tens of thousands of followers that you could do whatever you wanted.” Among those pointed out, as many people agree on social media, is @ibairider, with 651,000 followers. He has explained himself via Instagram: he denies responsibility of content creators and points out that “the more people, the more idiots,” adds that “it has been crazy” and that he saw “crazy people drifting, doing wheelies with people around, there were children and you could run someone over.” He also says that a cap, a helmet, and the motorcycle keys were stolen from him. User @geri.111, with 43,700 followers, has posted videos showing both options. At the top, riders in authorized areas; in another, people without respect in inappropriate spaces. “It was as easy as causing trouble on the circuit and not in the camping or circulation areas,” he says, with a reflection: “It will be the organization’s fault or those who came just to cause trouble and get wasted… but this festival, or at least what happened this year, does not represent those of us who truly love the motor world.”
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