Alicante bans firework displays outside official festival dates
Mascletás will only be allowed in Alicante city during the June Bonfire festival
The government in Alicante city has decided to drastically limit when firework shows can take place. Part and parcel of every Spanish celebration, mascletás are deafening displays that have caused serious controversy over the years due to the impact the noise has on both residents and pets.
As a result, Alicante city has ruled that from June 1, these firework shows will only be allowed if they are part of the official Hogueras (Bonfire) festival, which runs from June 19 to 24, or if they are organised directly by the main Bonfire Federation.
In recent years, many local festival committees have been holding mascletás outside of the official dates to promote their events. But the city says this has put too much pressure on emergency services, staff and resources, not to mention disturbing and upsetting local residents.
The measure, which will be in effect until at least 2026, was announced on Thursday May 8 by the Councillor for Festivals, Cristina Cutanda, at a meeting with festival representatives.
“We're coming off a year in which we've multiplied the number of mascletás, both daytime and nighttime. This has created a problem, and we have to turn off the tap in that sense,” she said.
Any mascletás already planned for before June 1 will still go ahead, but after that, they’ll only be allowed if they meet the new conditions. The goal is to reduce the number of these noisy, resource-heavy events without completely cancelling them, and the measure is in no way meant as a “punishment”, the councillor added.
Even though many festival-goers at the meeting weren’t happy with the decision, the City Council says this isn’t a permanent ban. Councillor Cutanda explained that mascletás use up a lot of city staff and equipment, and other local and neighbourhood festivals also need those resources for their own events. She added that if things improve, they might change the rules next year and find a new way to manage it.
It’s important to remember that these new regulations only impact publically-organised mascletás and don’t impact the legal right of people in Spain to purchase their own, smaller fireworks for personal use, although this practice is also heavily regulated.
In other news: Alicante province tops Blue Flag beaches leaderboard
Image: Pexels
Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin and get an email with all the week’s news straight to your inbox
Special offer: Subscribe now for 25% off (36.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)
OR
you can sign up to our FREE weekly roundup!
Read some of our recent bulletins:
Discount Special Offer subscription:
36.95€ for 48 Editor’s Weekly News Roundup bulletins!
Please CLICK THE BUTTON to subscribe.
(List price 3 months 12 Bulletins)
Read more stories from around Spain:
