Guide

Venue capacity limits in Argentina: what the event door controls and what it does not

By SOMOS DER · October 30, 2026 · 6 min read

The maximum capacity of an event is not decided by the organizer or by the check-in system: it is set by the venue's license or the event permit. What the door controls is how many people entered, one by one and with no duplicates. What it does not control, unless exits are recorded, is how many are inside right now. To protect the capacity limit you need both: the count of entries and a separate control of exits or occupancy.

Three words used as if they were the same

• Licensed or authorized capacity: the maximum number of people the venue can hold at the same time, according to its license or the event permit. It is a legal figure, not a commercial one.
• Occupancy (what Argentines call aforo in practice): how many people are inside at a given moment, and whether that is below the maximum.
• Attendance: how many different people entered over the whole event. At an event of several hours, with people coming and going, it can be well above the capacity without the occupancy limit ever being exceeded.

Mixing them up causes problems both ways: closing the entrance when attendance reaches the permit figure (and leaving out people who could have come in because others had already left), or feeling safe because "fewer than the capacity came in" when in fact nobody knows how many are in the hall.

Who sets the number you cannot exceed

It depends on the jurisdiction and the type of venue, and local rules always prevail. As an example, in the City of Buenos Aires, the official page for the mass event permit defines as a mass event any artistic or festive gathering of more than one thousand attendees. The permit is granted by the Agencia Gubernamental de Control, through its Dirección General de Habilitaciones y Permisos, and it sets a maximum capacity that must be respected during the event. The requirements include a graphic layout of the site with the capacity per sector and the exits, and an approved and certified electronic access control to ensure the authorized capacity is not exceeded.

Two practical conclusions. First: the event's capacity comes from that document, and it is the first thing to have before designing the door. Second: if your event falls under that regime, the access control the rule requires has its own approval requirements, and you need to confirm them with the authority before choosing how to count.

Door staff also have a written rule. Law 26,370, which regulates admission and security staff at shows and entertainment venues, requires equal admission conditions for everyone "as long as the venue's capacity allows it" (Article 9), and allows refusing entry when the venue is at its authorized maximum (Article 11). In other words: a full venue is a legitimate reason not to let people in, as long as it applies equally to everyone and is posted visibly.

What a check-in system does control

A door with one QR code per person solves the entry half of the problem, and solves it well:

• How many entered, without counting anyone twice. In PASE every attendee has a unique QR code, and marking an entry is atomic: if two scanners read the same code at once, one gets in and the other shows DUPLICATE.
• When and where they entered. The live report shows entries by type, sector, door and hour, with several doors in sync.
• A warning before the limit. If you set a capacity for the event, PASE warns when entries reach 80% and 100% of that number. The 80% warning is the useful one, because there is still time to stop promotion, open another sector or talk to security.
• Spreading arrivals. With time slots that each have a capacity, the attendee picks a day and time, sees "N left" or "Full", and a full slot stops taking people by itself. It does not measure occupancy, but it keeps everyone from arriving at once.

What it does not control, and how to cover it

• How many are inside. If nobody records exits, the system knows how many came in, not how many left. The PASE closing report says so at the bottom: it counts entries recorded at the door, not how many people were inside at a given moment. For real-time occupancy you need to count exits, for example with a manual counter at each exit, and subtract.
• What does not go through the scanner. Staff, suppliers, artists, people coming in through loading docks. They take up space too. Either they are accredited and go through a check-in point, or they are added to the calculation by hand.
• The capacity of each sector. A correct total does not mean the VIP area or the small room are not overflowing. If a sector has its own capacity, it needs its own check-in point and its own count.
• The license itself. No door system licenses a venue or replaces the evacuation plan, the exits or the inspection. It counts people, nothing more.

How to set it up in practice

1. Get the figure from the license or permit in writing, before opening registration.
2. Subtract what will not go through the scanner (staff, suppliers, artists) and load that result as the event capacity, not the gross number.
3. Decide with security who watches the 80% warning and what they do when it arrives: stop entry, wait for people to leave or open another space.
4. If the event runs for many hours and people rotate, put a counter at each exit and have someone keep the subtraction.
5. Post the admission conditions at each entrance, including that when the venue is full nobody enters until someone leaves.

To plan queues and stations, see how many check-in points and staff you need; for the attendance figure delivered at the end, the post-event report for the client. Keep in mind that PASE reports are only in Spanish.

Entered is a door number. Inside now is the door plus the exits. Capacity is set by the permit.

Frequently asked questions