According to the commander of the Territorial Detachment of Elvas of GNR, João Lourenço, the GNR became aware of the situation "through several reports" that told of "some noise" in a neighborhood of the Alentejo town.

"The patrol, on moving to the scene, found that there was a large gathering of people, movement on the public road. It was a party, an unauthorised event and that the participants did not respect the duty of home confinement," he said.

According to the GNR captain, reinforcements were immediately requested from other posts in that area and "an hour later" the situation was resolved.

"There were some people identified, who are known. In this action of ours the intention, considering that it was a large number of people, was to disperse and direct all the people to their homes, but naturally some of the people were identified", he explained.

The GNR captain also added that this action initially met with "some resistance" from the participants of the party, but then instructions were followed.