Six-day illegal rave sees 5,000 people descend on Spanish village

As the party got under way on Friday, the municipality was quick to lodge a complaint with police. The police arrived swiftly, deciding it would be safer to keep watch over the fiesta rather than forcefully evict thousands of revellers.

Barricades were set up to block new vehicles from the site, while a helicopter kept an eye as revellers made their way to the site by foot. The days of partying had been largely peaceful, with just a handful of people arrested for drugs or resisting authority, police said on Wednesday.

Amid assurances that the party was set to end on Tuesday, the municipality kept watch for any sign that the party was dying down, despairing as the volume was cranked up hours after the party was meant to end.

The distant throbbing of music sparked curiosity among some of the residents, with a few young people and one 80-year-old villager opting to join the party. Other residents welcomed the few partygoers and scores of Spanish media who turned up in the village, injecting a bit of cash into the local economy.