Last Friday, the Haría City Council plenary session approved urging the Cabildo to declare the Órzola Pamela Festival of "popular interest", despite the fact that Costas denied permission for its celebration last year and that this year the Consistory does not have authorization for now either. "We are in the process," said the mayor of the northern municipality, Marci Acuña.
"It is one more step," said the mayor, who believes that this declaration and the "change in the concept of the festival" could help when it comes to obtaining permission for its celebration. And, according to Marci Acuña, the intention of the City Council is to "reduce the capacity" of this celebration and that the festival is oriented "to the environmental issue". "That it is not simply a party, but that during that week awareness campaigns, coastal cleanups are carried out; that although it ends with a party, the area and the environmental care of it are valued," he specified.
"But we are waiting for authorization from Costas, because without authorization we are not going to do it," the mayor wanted to make clear, after the City Council was fined 2,591 euros for holding that festival without permission in 2016.
Moving the festival from Caletón Blanco to another location "is another option", although he is confident of being able to obtain permission to celebrate this festival in its traditional setting. "And if it is not done this year, then continue working on the file so that, when it is done, it is done in different conditions and with tranquility. That it is done with all the permits, authorizations and all the corrective measures that are pertinent," he detailed.
PSOE and PIL were absent from the vote
From the opposition, however, they are critical of the fact that the government group is "looking for arguments to be able to celebrate this festival no matter what". In fact, both the PSOE councilor, Alfredo Villalba, and the PIL councilor, Iván Rodríguez, were absent from the vote, according to Villalba himself told La Voz. "We abstained because we did not want to be participants in what could become an attack against such a sensitive site and that they have ended up destroying, because this new corporation began to give it greater publicity and bring in renowned DJs, causing a very important impact on a very sensitive environment," he said.
In the socialist's opinion, "there are other places where the festival can be celebrated and that do not have such an aggressive impact on the environment." "Of course, it is very counterproductive or it makes no sense to try to do a week of environmental awareness and then do a concert with DJs in an area with special sensitivity," criticizes Alfredo Villalba, who also believes that "there are much more important festivals than La Pamela and more deeply rooted, such as the carnivals themselves or the San Juan festivals" to be classified as being of popular interest.
