On Sunday, a performance of Un ballo in Maschera (Masquerade ball) by Giuseppe Verdi was stopped at the Teatro Real in Madrid after persistent protest from the public.
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Part of the audience shouted for an hour and clapped their hands, which prevented the performance from taking place.
The protest came from the spectators seated on the balconies of the opera house. The reason for the dissatisfaction was that the rules regarding social distance were not applied to the (cheaper) balcony places, but to the (more expensive) places on the ground floor. On social media, images of a crowded audience circulated on the balconies, while below the spectators were separated from each other by an empty chair.
The protest had already started before conductor Nicola Luisotti took the stage. He still managed to have the overture performed, but then called it a day.
The Teatro Real said it had followed the measures imposed by the government. Empty places between spectators are not mandatory, mouth masks and a maximum capacity of 70 percent are.
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