As the iconic lights of the Feria de Abril Fair prepare to be switched on tonight, the city braces for a week of polka-dotted dresses, fried fish and non-stop rebujitos.
But alongside the revelry comes a more sobering reminder from the Andalusian Audiovisual Council (CAA): don’t record your drunken friend.
The independent regulatory body has issued a sharp warning against the increasingly common trend of sharing videos of intoxicated fairgoers on social media.
It comes after the now-infamous hashtag #papagorda – local slang for ‘massive booze-up’ – went viral last year.
While such posts may rack up likes and laughs, the CAA is clear: filming or posting images of drunk individuals without their consent can carry legal consequences, including steep fines.
According to the council, many of the videos circulating under the hashtag breach Spain’s Data Protection Law and the Organic Law on Civil Protection of the Right to Honor, Personal Privacy, and Self-Image.
Depending on the severity, fines could range from €10,000 to as high as €300,000, the latter issued by the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD).
The CAA’s caution isn’t new. Last summer, it flagged the rise of these videos during the feria season, as festivals across Andalusia flooded social media with clips of stumbling partygoers, many unaware they were being filmed.
The concern is twofold: violation of personal rights, and the potentially viral spread of content that can humiliate or endanger those featured.
Born in 2019, the #papagorda tag started as a local joke at the Sevilla Feria – a nod to the legendary levels of inebriation that come with long days and even longer nights in the city’s brightly lit fairgrounds.
But the joke quickly soured. Videos tagged under the trend show individuals passed out in public, vomiting, or simply too drunk to walk – footage almost always captured without consent.
