A Spanish music festival has defended its decision not to postpone Green Day’s headline set following the death of an acrobat.

Green Day’s set only suffered a slight delay after the accident, causing festival-goers to accuse both the band and Mad Cool organisers of insensitivity.

Mad Cool has released a statement explaining its own decision to continue with the festival. “The decision to not stop the festival immediately was made between the state and local security forces, as well as our security management,” organisers said. “Mad Cool Festival complied with all the corresponding security measures that are mandatory for the audience, artists and workers at festivals and was prepared for all eventualities.

“In this situation it was officially deemed unsafe to have a large mass of people moving all at once, with the possibility of violent reactions, due to a sudden cancellation of an event of 45,000 people. The safety and security of the fans at the festival was of the highest order and it was not compromised.”