Anyone been to the Primavera festival in Barcelona? DS wants to go, should I let him?

[GreenTeaPingPong]

DS really wants to go to this festival - Primavera in Barcelona, next June. He'll be 16, about to turn 17 (Year 12) by then. He would be going with one friend, also 16/17. Obviously because of Covid he hasn't been to anything like this in the UK without an adult, let alone in another country. If it was in the UK I would say yes, but I'm nervous about the potential for things to go wrong (pick pockets, losing passport, getting hurt) and I wouldn't be able to get there to help. I've just checked the website and it's not camping, you have to get accommodation in the city. It's at the end of half term.

Has anyone been before? Even if you haven't, would you let your DS go? He's quite cautious in general, not a party animal, but loves music/bands. He has to give an answer by tomorrow - help!

If he plans to do A levels, I think I'd be more concerned about the timing. Most schools have pretty full-on mock exams after the May half term with results being used as a basis for grade predictions for uni applications.

Oh god I hadn't thought about mocks.

I have been to a similar festival in Barcelona, although it was a few years ago now! It was held in Barceloneta from what I remember and we had accommodation in the city. From memory they ran buses back when the music finished but it was a pain if you wanted to leave earlier because there was limited public transport. Once inside it was pretty safe though.

I would also say that you need to have your wits about you in Barcelona - at 16 I would be wary, and I say that as someone who started going to Glasto at 14 in the early 90s when it was pretty feral. It's one thing if he's used to living in a big city, but if he's in any way young for his age then I'd probably say he needs to wait.

The other thing is whether he can even go without an adult at 16.

Thanks dubyalass that's useful to know. He's sensible and has travelled a fair bit, but yes I had heard that Barcelona can be tricky.

Would anywhere rent accommodation to them at that age? I would have thought they would need an adult.

Truthfully, I wouldn't let him. Barcelona although a beautiful fabulous city is not the easiest city to navigate IMO and there is a lot of street crime and that's without the added complications of the temptation of drinking etc. Perhaps I would feel different if I lived in Central London and he was used to that and what that brought with it.

I found Barcelona a fairly intimidating city when I Interrailled aged 21. Unless it has changed a lot I wouldn't recommend it for a 17 year old. Don't get me wrong, its a wonderful place, but the street crime is off the scale.