The hordes return to Benicàssim

"Right now everyone just wants to relax and take a vacation. Are festivals in crisis? That's rubbish. They will never disappear and they will continue to be a business." So says Vince Power, the man behind the Benicàssim festival (known by its Spanish acronym, FIB). And he knows what he's talking about. Since Monday, nearly 20,000 youths ? mostly British ? had been camping out in the Castellón town awaiting the start of the 17th FIB festival (July 14 to 17).

For his second year at the helm of the festival, Power has brought out the big guns. While the organizers denied it at the time, last year's event came very close to being classified as a failure: compared with the 50,000 people a day who filled the grounds in 2009, only around 32,000 did so in 2010, while other festivals enjoyed record attendance. Top-billed bands such as Arcade Fire and Muse went elsewhere. Meanwhile, the British crowd took over the premises and turned them into their own particular summer utopia, which included turning the flinging of half-drunk beer cups onto the crowd into a national sport.

"I don't think that last year was a failure," argues Power. "A lot of people felt more comfortable because there were less people. Although I am much happier from a commercial point of view now. Of course, I have had to spend more money ? the budget is huge. But I won't tell you how much I have paid for the groups. I don't want to give my competitors clues."

Attracting Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, Primal Scream and Portishead must have cost a pretty penny. But Power's reticence to disclose the budget means that FIB is the only Spanish festival not to publicly state what it spends.

Now, with the firepower awarded by these bands, FIB (which is no longer being sponsored by Heineken) may reach the 50,000 figure again. That is a huge amount of people, considering that the grounds are sandwiched in between the mountains, the train tracks and the N-340 road, and will be pretty much at top capacity. In fact, organizers had to push the main stage back to ensure that the public will be able to see the top-billed bands at maximum attendance hours. Incidentally, the legendary swimming pool, in which so many rockers have taken the plunge over the years, has been covered up. It is clear that the additional 18,000 people expected this year will be welcomed by a festival that claims sponsorships only account for seven percent of revenue.

If the top of the bill is strong this year, the body of the festival is a little weak compared with 2009, but interesting performances can be expected from Roska, Juan McLean, the Spaniards Nudozurdo, Beirut and Astrud & Col.lectiu Brossa.

As for the legends department, which has in the past seen the likes of Leonard Cohen, Ray Davies and Brian Wilson, this year the festival is making do with The Stranglers.

But for the town of Benicàssim itself, it's Christmas time for the 18,000 inhabitants. The economic impact of the festival is as much as 15 million euros. Around 3,000 people are hired during the event, with 120 suppliers being drafted in.

Since Monday, thousands of British adolescents have been camped out at the festival, bathed in sun cream on the beach and spending their money on food and booze. "We'll be here for 10 days," explains Jamie Miller. "We've got the beach, music and alcohol. What more do you want?"