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Argentina has banned dancing in Buenos Aires for two weeks starting Friday, closing all clubs and dance bars in the capital after five people died of drug overdose earlier this month at an electronic music party.
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"All commercial dancing activity with live or recorded music is prohibited in the city,” ruled the decision by city officials who find controls on clubs "arbitrary and illegitimate."
The injunction, effective immediately, was requested by an anti-addiction association, a union of waste collectors and a university federation.
Several organizations had banded together to push the ban, with a lawyer for the anti-addiction group Winds of Liberty arguing that dance clubs rely on a “business model based on risk," one that allegedly encourages drug and alcohol abuse with manipulating effects like lighting and smoke.
Some music venues, such as peñas that play traditional music, milongas and cultural centers are exempt from the ban.
The vice president of a council of club owners has urged the judge to reconsider its “out of touch” decision.
The decision came two weeks after five people died and five others were hospitalized after attending the Time Warp electronic music festival.
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