A VALENCIA councillor wants Local Police to enforce a 'silent time' during the massive March Fallas festival where fireworks cannot be thrown.
Anaïs Menguzzato reveals that calls complaining about noise from bangers being thrown constantly have gone up this year to 492 from last year's 317.
Although Local Police are authorised to 'monitor and denounce' what is ambiguously termed 'inappropriate use' of bangers and other fireworks, this has not been clearly defined.
At the very least, Sra Menguzzato wants fireworks banned between the time the falla marquées, or casales, finish their parties for the night through to the despertá, or 'awakening' of the fiestas in the morning.
This, however, would only leave a gap of about four to six hours, since parties in the casales often carry on until around 04.00 and in some cases, bars and nightclubs are given permission to open until 06.00 – then the 'awakening' starts at around 07.00 or 08.00.
And the problem is not just the occasional banger being thrown down, says Menguzzato – in some parts of the city, they are hurled en masse around the clock.
Although in general Menguzzato is pleased with security measures at this year's Fallas – far fewer incidents were recorded, and new evacuation routes have proven effective – she says next year's fiestas will need a rethink as fire engines had difficulty accessing the monuments to soak the area around them when they were burnt down on Monday night, during the cremà which marks the end of the festival.
Menguzzato's main concern, however, is the constant noise in the streets 24 hours a day created by fireworks.
A 'silent time' where these are prohibited may also catch on in the rest of the province of Valencia, where practically every town celebrates the Fallas and residents have similar problems with trying to get to sleep.
