The Manzanares-Casa de Campo neighborhood association has shown its rejection this Friday of the celebration of the mascletà that will be held on February 18 at the Puente del Rey in Madrid Río, while “the pyrotechnics will seriously affect the biodiversity of the area, especially birds, but also domestic animals.
The neighborhood entity believes in a statement, collected by EFE, that the mascletà is a festival “completely unrelated to the popular festivals of Madrid” and charges against the import of gunpowder from Valencia, “three times” higher, which “collides head-on with the environment in which it intends to perform.
“The Casa de Campo and the renaturalized environment of Manzanares represent an important reserve of biodiversity, especially highlighting the bird populations. These animals, in addition to domestic animals, will be exposed to completely unjustified stress due to the noise generated by this celebration,” they criticize.
They also remember that the Casa de Campo is an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC) and state that the neighborhood associations have asked the General Directorate of Heritage if the event “has their approval as an essential requirement for its celebration.”
And they reproach that, while the associations “have problems organizing leisure and popular culture activities”, both the Puente del Rey and the Plaza de España “have the character of an annual fairground to be able to host events throughout the year, privatizing the use of this public space for the benefit of event promoters.”
That is why they will support the rally called by environmental organizations next February 17 in front of the Madrid City Council and advance the possibility of carrying out “their own protest actions” to prevent what they describe as “nonsense” from being consumed.
