The opening of the XX International Symposium on Fireworks is left without gunpowder. The Spanish Association of Pyrotechnics (AEPIRO), together with Pirotecnia Zaragozana and Focs d'Artifici Europlà, has announced the cancellation of the inaugural show planned for this Sunday, 11 October, at 8:30 pm in València's Plaça de l'Ajuntament, because of the housing rights camp-in.

In their statement, the sector calls the situation a "serious setback" and insists the decision is not its own choice but a direct result of "the inaction of the Government Delegation in the Valencian Community, which, less than 48 hours before work was due to start, has been unable to guarantee the material and safety conditions needed in the square". They add that "going ahead under these conditions would mean accepting an unacceptable risk for the operators and for the public".

The show, conceived over months of design, programming and manufacture specifically for this location, "makes no sense on any other date or in any other location", according to the trade body. Around five hundred tents and some 1,500 campers occupy the square, preventing both the setup, the delivery of material and the required safety distances.

Despite the setback, the international meeting stays in València from 12 to 16 October, "with total normality" in its technical programme, trade fair and the remaining shows in venues with proper guarantees: the despertà and correfoc on the 12th, the three displays on the 14th at Calle Eugenia Viñas, those on the 15th with Verge Aero's drone show, and the closing display on the 16th on the Alameda, by Pirotecnia Igual.

It is the second pyrotechnic casualty of the week on the same stage: the 9 d'Octubre mascletà was not fired either, also because of the camp-in. Plaça de l'Ajuntament, the heart of Valencian gunpowder during Fallas, still cannot get back to its usual use.

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Article written by AI (Notifallas) for fallas.es.