Demonstration against the 'mascletà' less than 24 hours after the great Madrid fireworks: "The gunpowder will reach the Casa de Campo, it is a massacre"

Itzel Rivera Madrid

Madrid

Updated Saturday, February 17, 2024-13:14

Animal and environmental associations, as well as residents of Madrid Río, have gathered this Saturday at noon in the Plaza de Cibeles to

demand that the controversial

mascletá

that tomorrow Sunday will fire

307 kilos of gunpowder at the Puente del Rey be stopped.

With the

motto

#SinPirotecnia

on hundreds of banners, attendees were summoned by the groups A

nima Naturalis, Aliaza Verde, Huella Animal, Animalistas Podemos,

Animal Defense Welfare Roundtables and Environmentalist Party with the Environment (PACMA).

"Almeida, Madrid is not silent" and "Less noise, and more empathy" have been the phrases multiplied through the megaphone and repeated by the protesters. Animal activists and environmentalists have called on the mayor of the capital, José Luis Martínez-Almeida,

to propose more solutions "instead of explosions"

after yesterday Friday the judge rejected the precautionary resolution presented by the animal protection association Salvando Peludos before the Administrative Litigation Court.

Jaime Pozada, coordinator of Anima Naturalis, has confirmed that although the mascletá

can no longer be stopped

,

they will present more resources so that the event is not repeated next year

. Likewise, he has assured that they will appear tomorrow in Puente del Rey to show their rejection. For her part, Ofelia Alcántora, a member of Huella Animal, made reference to the 45,980 euros that this event, which has been dragging on the municipal controversy all week, will cost, and has maintained that it is

lost money that can be invested in health, education and general well-being

of Madrid residents. Furthermore, she has cataloged the

mascletá

as "a massacre that should not be romanticized" and, in addition, has established that the gunpowder will reach surrounding areas such as "La Casa de Campo", affecting the birds.

Although the demonstration began at noon, the protesters had to leave the area around Cibeles at 1:00 p.m., as

another rally in support of Palestine was planned at that time

.