Madrid will have a 'mascletà' with more kilos of gunpowder than Valencia, Almeida does not say how much it will cost and environmentalists are against

One week after the first mascletà of Madrid, scheduled for February 18, it is not known how much Madrid residents will pay for this event that Mayor José Luis Martínez Almeida has been announcing since last year and that will now materialize through an alliance with the Valencian mayor María José Catalá (PP). The Madrid City Council and Madrid Destino, the area in charge of the agreement, assure that the final figure is not available because they are still finalizing details of the contract with the company Pirotecnia Valenciana SL, which since the end of last year has made visits to Madrid to plan everything. What is known is that the event will be on the King's Bridge, which passes over the Manzanares River, and that organizations such as Ecologistas en Acción, SEO Bird Life and AnimaNaturalis, have already rejected the location chosen for an event that will use 307 kilos of gunpowder because of what that will mean for the animals in a space that is attached to the Casa de Campo. The opposition demands an account of the economic and environmental costs of an unprecedented event in the capital.

The noise will be big. The pyrotechnic shot in Madrid will use more kilos of gunpowder than the last one mascletà which was made in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento of Valencia at the close of the Fallas on March 19, 2023, which used more than 260 kilos. That mascletà It was run by the same company that was hired in Madrid, it cost a price agreed there, 8,500 euros, according to the Public Sector Contracting Platform. Pirotecnia Valenciana SL refers to the City Council to find out the cost of the activity in Madrid. At the same time, other Valencian companies contacted by this newspaper explain that the 8,500 euros are the price established by the Fallera Central Board for the shots that year and that, in any case, the real cost is “much higher.” However, they do not risk giving figures, because, they explain, each mascletà It is different in terms of the load – which ranges from 120 kilos and up – and the type of gunpowder used for a show that lasts approximately five minutes.

In Madrid, it has not been revealed whether the event will have additional elements that will increase the bill for what the City Council will pay. It is only known, from Valencian municipal sources, that Valencia will bring a commission of about thirty falleras to the capital to promote its festival, declared Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. From Valencia, they consider that there will be benefits for the local fireworks sector and for the promotion of this cultural tradition that celebrates a new edition from March 1. “But it has more benefits for Madrid. Many Valencians live in the capital, consumption will increase,” they say from the City Council.

The first mascletà of Madrid is part of a collaborative work that Madrid and Valencia signed in the last edition of the International Tourism Fair. An event of this type exceeds 120 decibels, according to the official tourist website that promotes the Fallas of Valencia and its pyrotechnic events. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers any sound higher than 65 decibels as noise and, in entertainment events, recommends a maximum average sound level of 100 decibels. These figures also allow us to measure the other cost that is talked about in Madrid: the environmental one.

The King's Bridge, the place chosen by the City Council, passes over the Manzanares River and connects one of the corners of Casa de Campo with Campo del Moro. It is not just any place, according to environmentalists, who have opposed the activity. Beatriz Sánchez, coordinator of SEO/Bird Life's urban biodiversity program, assures that this area, which also coincides with the end of the Madrid Río park, “is not the best place to make a mascletà” for reasons of biodiversity protection. Along Madrid Río, which began its renaturation in 2016, more than 130 species of birds have been recorded, Sánchez warns based on data from the BirdNET application. Among these he mentions birds such as the gray heron, the kingfisher, the Iberian woodpecker, the titmouse and the redfish.

Studies have shown how, when setting off firecrackers and other types of pyrotechnic elements on a large scale, such as New Year's celebrations,birds flee en masse and at high altitudes, causing energy loss, disorientation and resettlement problems. Also These explosions have been documented to cause increases in heart rate and stress levels and that, when fleeing, animals can end up injured when colliding with objects. Yago Martínez, from Ecologistas en Acción, remembers that doing this mascletà In winter it is especially risky. “The birds are in energy saving mode. Making them fly like this is a disservice,” he comments, “this is a very sensitive site. And that is an unnecessary macro event.” Ecologistas en Acción has asked the City Council to suspend the event.

“We do not believe that the possible environmental impact was foreseen when choosing the place,” questions the urban biodiversity coordinator of SEO/Bird Life. This organization has also asked the City Council to move the event to another place that does not affect biodiversity, especially now, when the birds begin their reproductive period. “They are drifting a bit against the European capitals, which are committed to urban renaturalization,” comments the coordinator.

Cibeles, however, defends the choice. Vice Mayor Inma Sanz assured this Thursday that “all the studies are being carried out, with all the rigor for the technical reports to guarantee that it is a space where it can be done from all points of view, security, environment and everything else.” Regarding the opposition from environmental organizations, she has said that they are “criticisms of the eco-leftists” who are against “anything that could be good for Madrid.” The mayor, when announcing the location this Monday, assured that the King's Bridge met all the technical requirements and that, in addition, it offered one of the “most beautiful” panoramic views of the capital.

Jaime Posada, coordinator of Anima Naturalis Madrid, remembers that The original plan was to do the mascletà in Cybele. “They changed it due to damage that could be caused to the fauna of El Retiro Park or to the Landscape of Light,” says Posada. On the King's Bridge she comments that there is a risk of affecting specimens that have already begun to make their nests. Although it is not the season, Posada warns, nesting has already been detected due to climate change. “These animals can't stand that level of noise.” For this
reason, Anima Naturalis has called a rally in Cibeles the day before the mascletà. Another environmental organization that is preparing to act is Ecologistas en Acción. Yago Martínez explains that actions are already coordinated with neighborhood associations such as Puerta del Ángel.

Political groups are also mobilizing. Más Madrid has requested the suspension of the event during the plenary session of the Moncloa district this Thursday and, in addition, has requested documentation that justifies that there is a mascletà in Madrid. The party spokesperson, Rita Maestre, has described the activity as “one more example of the politics of spectacle and noise.” “We want to know the environmental evaluation reports, the economic evaluation that must exist and that the Almeida Government does not provide us “has made it easier,” he stated. From Valencia, Compromís has recognized the annoyance that exists in the capital. “We would never allow a gunshot mascletà in the middle of the Albufera. We can be sensitive about what a gunshot means in any natural environment,” said Pere Fuser, former Festival Councilor and former president of the Fallera Central Board. The PSOE has taken the issue to the political field. The socialist spokesperson in the City Council Reyes Maroto has rejected that the event be paid for with public money. “We Madrid residents do not have to pay for the party after the PP has won the elections in Valencia,” Maroto criticized this Friday.

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