WHAT DO YOU THIK OF THE BOTELLON??

[Mariamartinez]

I personally thing it is crap. Just wanted to state here that I am young, Spanish and like drinking but find Botellon disgusting.

[costakid]

I was in Barcalona a few weeks ago and the Police tried to stop the botellon and caused a riot. when you get hundreds of people together drinking you will always get trouble.

[frank]

There's a 3 day one here.
http://www.20minutos.es/galeria/1078/0/0/

Always some interesting photos here, like the one with the guy shooting water out of his eye!

[Grouser]

Good site Frank

[frank]

Good site Frank

I like it, generally have a read every day. The comments are worth a read, as well. A lot, like El País are now pay jobs, so at least this is still free. Always some good photos there.

[Shukran]

I was intrigued to know what Botellon was - and this is what I found on Google:

Botellón

El botellón is a Sevillian tradition that we hope will never die. Certain plazas fill with young, drunken Spaniards who dance to car stereos and have moped races. Where it takes place depends on the time of year.

The actual botellón that you buy is called a lote. It consists of a liter of alcohol (rum, vodka, gin, whiskey, etc.), a 2 liter of soda, 6 Spanish style glasses and ice. When you are ordering a lote you tell them quiero un lote de .... con ...... . For example rum and coke would be, un lote de ron con cola. Other good combinations are Fanta (naranja or limon) and Vodka, and whiskey and coke. Be careful when putting the ice into the glasses. The plastic is thin and if you drop the ice straight into the glass it will crack the bottom. Tilt the glass and slide the ice in. If you break a glass you won't want to go all the way back to buy more.

Where to buy a lote

Buying alcohol in Spain after 10 p.m. is illegal, but someone forgot to tell Sevilla. There are still some places around that will sell you a lote until about 3 or 4 in the morning.

The kiosk next to the Mercedes Benz dealership on Calle Arjona has cheap lotes and is open late from Wednesday til Saturday. A lote of rum and Negrita costs 13 €.
At the end of Calle Arjona on the corner across the street from the Plaza de Armas bus station is another store that sells lotes. It is called 101 Montaditos and is a little more expensive than the kiosk, and not open as late during the week.
Right next to the Plaza Salvador are two bars that you can buy your alcohol by the liter for a couple euros.

Bar Litro is right before you get to Plaza Salvador coming from the Ayuntamiento. They sell liters of beer for 3 € and liters of rum and coke for 6 €. They close at 1 a.m.
Another bar right up Cuesta del Rosario, heading towards Alfalfa, has cheap liters of beer, wine, and rum. They close between 1 and 2 a.m.
Where to botellón

There are many plazas and parking lots around Sevilla where you can find lots of people drinking in the street or you can just grab a comfortable spot somewhere with your friends. (Botelloning by yourself is called "being a hobo"). Most botellóns start around midnight and last until 4 a.m. Here are a couple popular places these days.

Plaza de Cuba (Wednesday)
Viapol (Thursday)
Calle Betis (All weekend)
Plaza del Pan (All weekend)
Capote (Everyday in the summer!)


Ugh! I'd be comatose after the first sip.

[Grouser]

If it's a tradition how long has it been going on? Did they have live music and donkey races before the stereos and mopeds?

[frank]

Here are a couple popular places these days.

They are popular with the youngsters taking part, however not so popular with the neighbours! Especially as they go on all night and generally involve a lot of noise! I was talking to someone from Barcelona, and they often hold them very close to her house, and sh'e not amused. And she's only 24!

[Solysombra]

I have witnessed the botellon several times, quite frankly it doesn't bother me one way or another but I really don't see what all the fuss is about, if you want to see a drinking party that goes on for 24 hours a day every day for 8 days, then go to Pamplona in early July, now that's a botellon!!

[katy]

málaga residents are always complaining re. noise. Venues are now being organised on the internet, sort of a mass botellón. According to one forum the last large one in málaga was rained off.

[silver]

If it's a tradition how long has it been going on? Did they have live music and donkey races before the stereos and mopeds?

The botellon as we know it today started about 12 years ago when the spring party, that the town hall and university had organized was called off and the students decided to "do it themselves"... ....so no donkey races..live music sometimes.

[Grouser]

Thanks for that Silver. Nice to learn a little local history even if only very recent. The enquiry wasn't entirely facetious. At a small village feria there was an afternoon event where a wire was strung across a road with rolls of coloured ribbon hung from it. Pairs of boys on mopeds took it in turns to ride underneath, with the pillion passenger standing up on the footrests. Stretching his arm above his head he would try to lance a coil of ribbon with his index finger. If successful the ribbon would spiral out behind the bike and detatch from the wire. The pair to get most ribbons won. This event was obviously originally equestrian, indeed it was advertised as such on the Feria programme so we had turned up expecting to see horses.

[silver]

Grouser

we had turned up expecting to see horses

but you did get HP..

rolls of coloured ribbon hung from it

Glad it was not chickens....yes... in some villages they do hang chickens and not ribbons.