12 Unexpected Moments From The Year In Music 2023

We’ve become so used to stories of overzealous arrests at illegal raves, curtain twitching residents and angry locals admonishing young people for waking them up in the middle of the night. So it was a real treat when we stumbled upon comments from Fernando Álvarez, the Mayor of La Peza – a tiny village in Spain’s Granada region – following a raucous six-day long rave that took place less than a mile from his village. The event, which took place from December 30 2022. until January 4 of this year and was attended by close to 6,000 people – nearly five times the 1,200 population of La Peza – would ordinarily have been met with concern from authorities. Instead Álvarez shared his “amazement” at the organisation of the event, telling The Guardian: “Frankly it was magnificently organised. It was like a small town. They had a bakery, pizzeria, clothing shops, people who would braid your hair – they had absolutely everything.” He added that he was not in opposition to the event, and instead felt that La Peza had received “six days of entertainment out of it,” and “that this incident has given us a bit of publicity and put us on the map.” Álvarez wasn’t the only local intrigued by the rave, with reports detailing that residents took it upon themselves to check out the party at different points throughout its run, with even an 80-year-old villager popping down for a dance.