It has rained, and it seems that it has only recently, but more than 25 years have passed since Alicante will shoot a mascletà in Madrid, just as the city of Valencia intends to do - if the court allows it.
It was in 1997, at the time when Andrés Llorens, who would later make the leap into municipal politics, presided over the Fogueres Federation - he did so between 1995 and 1999 -, a period in which the popular Alicante party promoted its foreign relations. and its promotion.
According to sources from the Federation, the pyrotechnic event took place in the central Plaza de Santa Ana, and was held without incidents worth mentioning; Nor is it remembered that it caused any controversy. José María Álvarez del Manzano (PP) was then the mayor of Madrid.
The truth is that the members of the Alicante party are in the habit of traveling. For many years, they have organized the so-called "convivencias", meetings of the girls who represent their commissions and aspire to become the Bellea del Foc of the corresponding year. These trips are used to promote the festival in those cities where they are celebrated, almost always in Spain, but also abroad.
The last trip, in 2023, took them to Córdoba, which was the fifth capital of Andalusia to host the Convivencias - now called Festival Promotion Days -. Previously they were Almería, Granada, Málaga and Seville. In Córdoba, a mascletà was shot in the central Plaza de la Corredera.
The chronicle of the local newspaper of the Andalusian city may well serve as a warning to sailors: "Accustomed in Córdoba to much lighter pyrotechnics, what sounded there ended up causing fury among the young people, fear among the fearful and crying among the children. "Six minutes of thunderous noise made the pillars of La Corredera tachycardic, making the feet of those present rumble under the asphalt."
There was no shortage of dissenting voices in Córdoba. Without opposing the celebration, the socialists demanded - without success - from the City Council that the mascletà be moved to an open space away from homes, to avoid the suffering of people sensitive to noise and pets. In fact, a party for domestic animals was organized at the same time in another part of the city, to get them away from the noise.
In its promotional efforts, the Alicante embassy always organizes parades, is accompanied by festive music, there is always a tasting of Alicante rice, a monument is planted and, after a fireworks show, it is set on fire, to the amusement and amazement of the aboriginals.
Although it is not always possible. In 2015, the Gothenburg authorities did not authorize the cremà, citing environmental reasons, so a modest bonfire monument occupied a central space on Gustav Adolf Square, in front of City Hall, over the weekend and had to be dismantled. We do not know if it ended up in the landfill or returned home with the 230 people who traveled from Alicante to the Swedish adventure.
After the forced pause of the pandemic, the Bonfires regained their promotional momentum in Zaragoza, in 2021, with an extensive festive program that included the planting - and subsequent cremà - of a 9-meter-high bonfire, the firing of a castle of fires artificial fireworks, a mascletà of 80 kilos of gunpowder in the central Plaza de los Sitios, and a parade through the center of the city of the beauties of each commission.
Although a few drops fell, they say that the attendance was massive. The Herald of Aragon's chronicle is not wasted: "Señores pyrotécnics, let the mascletá begin," said one of the ladies, and the series of explosions began; rockets first, firecrackers later and real bombs later. The final fireworks, of pandemonium level, left the audience's eardrums dancing the conga. "I don't know, at this moment, if it's a good idea," commented a customer with a scared look on her face before starting. "It was cool," said a smiling kid on the corner of Costa Street and the plaza. Division of opinions, therefore."
