The mascletá that the Madrid City Council intends to carry out next Sunday on the Puente del Rey, over the Manzanares River, has caused discomfort among animal associations, conservationists and residents of the neighborhood, both due to the noise that will be produced, as well as the damage that some animals that live in the area may suffer.
Among the animals that may be affected, there are 134 species of birds registered in Madrid Río (128 in the section between the Victoria Bridge and the Segovia Bridge), 129 species from Casa de Campo and 85 in Campo del Moro, according to the Society. Spanish Ornithology (Seo BirdLife).
A recently published study by Frontiers in Ecology the Environment highlights that the average number of birds detected in flight by New Year's Eve fireworks is 1,000 times higher than other nights of the year. Hence, the Spanish Society of Ornithology denounces that "the mascletà in Madrid Río shows a lack of environmental commitment on the part of the Madrid Government."
The NGO demands that the Madrid City Council "commit to diversity as a transversal element."
For Beatriz Sánchez, head of SEO BirdLife's human biodiversity program, "there are birds in the area, such as the kingfisher, the gray heron, the purple heron, the cattle egret or the ducks themselves that can have a hard time." In her opinion, she explains to La Vanguardia, "many birds are going to be scared away by the enormous noise and some of them may not come back." Even, she points out, "there are studies that show that with this type of actions some specimens die."
Furthermore, not only will the river ecosystem be altered, but the Madrid mascletà will also affect the nervous system of people sensitive to noise and the wild and domestic animals in the area.
Among the social entities that have expressed their discomfort to the council are Greenpeace, Ecologistas en Acción, SEO BirdLife, Animalistas.
According to SEO/BirdLife, this type of activity in the environment that is proposed, "in addition to other regulations related to noise, could go against Law 2/1991, of February 14, for the Protection and Regulation of Fauna and Wild Flora in the Community of Madrid.
This law states that "it is prohibited to kill, harm, disturb or disturb the cataloged species of animals; and prohibits the disturbance of the recovery, breeding, molting, wintering, rest and passage spaces of the cataloged animal species, especially migratory ones." ".
The subsequent state Law 42/2007 establishes the same prohibitions in identical terms for all protected species, Seo/BirdLife points out in a statement.
For its part, Ecologistas en Acción Madrid warns that the mascletá on the Puente del Rey could produce "important" alterations to the "valuable" river ecosystem existing in that stretch of the Manzanares River.
It warns that the effects of fireworks will have repercussions on both the birds that inhabit it and the riverside vegetation.
The event, in which more than 300 kilograms of gunpowder will be exploded and burned, could even, if a spark were to fly, ignite the existing bush vegetation in the river. Dogs and cats that live in the area will also be affected by the noise.
The organization Animanaturalis has called a protest next Saturday, at 12.00, in the Plaza de Cibeles, to raise awareness of the "ordeal" that animals will suffer due to masculinity and to call for an end to the use of loud pyrotechnics.
And on Sunday, also at 12:00, one hour before the start of the mascletá, the neighborhood associations of the area (Manzanares-Casa de Campo, Puerta del Ángel and Príncipe Pío), as well as the Save the Casa de Campo platform, They have called a rally next to the King's Bridge to say 'no' to this activity in that location.
