With less than 48 hours to go until 9 d'Octubre, the standoff over City Hall square has reached its tensest point. The Government Delegate, Pilar Bernabé, confirmed on Wednesday that "the mascletà is not compatible with the camp": the area where the display is set up is occupied by the more than 300 tents of the housing-rights camp, and there are no safety conditions for an eviction. Mayor María José Catalá replies that the events "are part of an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC)" and that the mascletà either takes place in the square "or it cannot take place at all".

In the middle of the institutional clash, the fireworks industry has stepped in. The Spanish Fireworks Association (AEPIRO) and the Valencian one (PIROVAL), backed by ACFAE and AGIP, issued a hard-hitting statement demanding the "immediate restoration of public use" of the square and even the "immediate evacuation" of the site, denouncing the Delegation's "intolerable inaction". Their general manager, Nicolás Magán, sums it up in two options: "either it happens or it doesn't".

The industry's anger is not only about Friday's mascletà: the 20th International Symposium on Fireworks, the world's most important industry congress, kicks off on Sunday 11 October with an opening show at 8:30 pm and delegations from China, the United States, Italy and Japan. The display exceeds 100 kilos of gunpowder and "cannot be improvised": moving it "is legally and technically unfeasible". If it is cancelled, they warn, they will seek "the full economic damages" from the public administration through the courts on behalf of the awarded companies.

The ball is now in the council's court, since it organises the celebration. Catalá recalled that the council sent a formal request to the Delegation yesterday and is awaiting a written reply. The campers, who are considering moving some tents to allow the civic procession route through, are keeping the protest going: the mascletà, scheduled for 2:00 pm, is still on the programme, but with the camp at the centre of the stage.

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