The recent Christmas celebrations have left a reality difficult to ignore in Lanzarote: the excessive use of noisy fireworks was, for many people, simply unbearable. For days and at all hours, firecrackers and explosions disrupted the rest, coexistence, and tranquility of entire neighborhoods. What should have been a time of gathering and celebration turned, for too many families, into a constant source of stress and worry.
This problem can no longer be treated as a minor nuisance. Impulsive noise severely affects people with auditory sensitivity, children, the elderly, and those living with autism spectrum disorders. It also has a particularly harsh impact on domestic animals and wildlife, causing panic, disorientation, accidents, and, in some cases, irreversible consequences. The last Christmas holidays have shown that the current model does not work.
The concern is shared beyond our borders. In countries like Germany or the Netherlands, following serious incidents during recent celebrations, the elimination of private fireworks at a national level is being seriously debated. There, it has been understood that the risk to safety, health, and coexistence outweighs any argument in favor of their indiscriminate use
In Spain too, there are clear examples that another path is possible. Cities like Málaga, Cádiz, Vitoria-Gasteiz, or Vigo have limited noisy pyrotechnics and opted for safer and more inclusive alternatives, demonstrating that the celebration does not disappear when noise is reduced, but rather adapts to a more conscious society.
Precisely because of what was experienced this past Christmas, I will bring a motion to the plenary session of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, from the Mixed Group, to regulate and limit noisy pyrotechnics on the island, an initiative that is born with a vocation for consensus and shared responsibility. To this end, we will shortly contract the necessary legal services to prepare a technical and legal report that will allow us to study in detail the regulatory fit of this measure, both in Lanzarote and La Graciosa. I hope to have the broadest possible support from the different political groups, because this is not an ideological issue, but one of coexistence, animal welfare, and quality of life. Celebrating without causing harm is not a renunciation; it is a collective responsibility.
