Three years after a Taylor Swift fan died before her Rio de Janeiro concert, Brazil has formally enacted a new law to protect attendees in cases of extreme heat. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has dubbed the two new decrees the “Taylor Swift Law.”
In November 2023, a woman named Ana Clara Benevides was waiting for the artist’s show in the front row when she fainted and had to be rushed to the hospital, where she ultimately died after a second cardiac arrest. It was later confirmed that the death was due to the high temperatures. Swift ended up postponing the concert.
At the time, it was reported that fans had not been allowed to enter the Nilton Santos stadium with water. The artist paused the concert several times to distribute bottles, and the fire department stated that around a thousand people fainted due to the heat.
The first decree makes it legally mandatory for events and venues with more than 1,000 people to provide free water, and also allows the public to bring their own water bottles. The second decree is a measure against price gouging: ticketing companies must clearly indicate any additional costs early in the purchasing process, avoiding surprises at the moment of payment.
What is the law like in Spain?
We have all experienced the unpleasant moment of throwing away our water bottle before entering the venue, or at least having to remove the cap for safety reasons, which in one way or another forces you not to keep water during the event.
Since July 2023, Royal Decree 1055/2022 obliges all event promoters, both public and private, to “guarantee access to potable water that is not bottled.” Royal Decree 3/2023 also states clearly: “Promoters of festive, cultural, or sporting events will guarantee access to non-bottled tap water.”
In other words, it is mandatory that there is potable water in any of these types of venues. Another issue is that you may enter with your own bottle of water, as is clearly allowed in Brazil. And still more confusing is that the law does not explicitly state that the “access to non-bottled potable water” must be free, as is the case in hospitality. However, the Ministry of Consumption explains that “the ban on bringing in food and drink can be abusive if consumption is allowed inside the venue through purchase.”
Everything is quite confusing, but festivals such as Madrid Salvaje and Reggaeton Beach Festival have already faced substantial fines for these practices. At the end of last July, Consumption announced a fine of €320,000 against the organizer of the Reggaeton Beach event, with one of the cited infractions being the prohibition on entering the venue with outside food and drink.
