About 100 people could not get to the Ovar carnival even with a ticket already purchased

This Sunday, about 100 people were unable to enter the carnival in Ovar despite having pedestrian tickets, criticizing the organization for not improving seating arrangements and the police for “turning a blind eye”.

At stake is the first big Entrudo parade in this municipality in the Aveiro area (scheduled for 2:30 p.m.), where the afternoon capacity consisted of 5,000 benches, all previously sold online, and 11,000 walking tickets on sale. in place since morning.

However, around 4:00 pm, about 100 people complained at the north entrance of Avenida do Corso, some because they were denied access, and others because, despite the fact that they entered earlier and the guards cut their tickets, they were stopped later. ahead, in the middle of the avenue, and forced to turn back.

“This is unacceptable. There is no room on the avenue for anyone else, but they continued to sell tickets for a while after they stopped us, and at the moment, after an hour and a half, we still cannot leave the gate. , otherwise we will lose the right to return our tickets. money,” said Elizabeth Monteiro, who traveled almost 60 kilometers from Maya to see the parade and now believes “it was just a waste of gasoline.”

Joaquim Leite from Santa Maria da Feira also believes that “the organization did not think about the conditions for access to pedestrian areas”, judging by the crowded avenue, “without a place where someone else could pass.” He bought three walking tickets for seven euros each and at 4:20 p.m. was still waiting to see if he would be refunded or if the ticket would be changed to Tuesday.

Vera Mendez also criticized the operation of the PSP in Ovar, which had agents at the indicated entrance: “We went to ask the ticket office for a complaint book and they said they didn’t have it. So we called the police and they said they weren’t going to get involved, that they were here to deal with the accidents.”

Conceisan Remedios confirmed the situation: “There is no complaint book and the police said they could do nothing – that it was none of their business.”

The two PSP agents contacted by Lusa on the spot declined to comment on the matter, sending clarifications to their commander and stating that they “have no way of contacting him.”

Lusa called the PSP in Owara, but the answer was identical: “It depends on our commander, and he is not here. We cannot comment on this,” the service agent replied.

As for the municipality of Ovar, which organizes the event, he ensured that the capacity of the dismounted “was strictly observed and even reduced from 13,000 to 11,000 seats compared to the last edition, precisely so that there is no pressure on the seats.”

All ticket holders who did not enter the venue or were only there for a few minutes “will be reimbursed”, but the municipality specified that this was a “good faith” decision.

“Anyone who comes to these types of events should know that in order to get a good seat, they need to organize and arrive early. If they show up at the last minute or later, they are under the same pressure as being late for an event, a concert,” he warned.