At its meeting yesterday afternoon, the Plenum of the city decided in a 4-hour session to debate the proposal of the People's Party and to ask the Ministry of Industry to amend the Explosives Ordinance with regard to Arkebusen.
The Explosives Ordinance 130/2017, adopted in March 2017 by its Instrucción Técnica Complementaria, introduces important innovations that drastically affect the handling of Arkebusen, celebrated in numerous cities such as the Feast of Moros y Cristianos of Calpe.
The regulation affects three aspects:
1) The storage of gunpowder may not exceed 72 hours for celebrations with less than 500 active participants (96 hours if they exceed this number).
2) The procedure to be followed for powder transport will be strengthened to ensure traceability and safety.
3) Although not directly approving the Regulation and related measures, the Regulation has led to a significant increase in the price of gunpowder.
Therefore, in practice, the Regulation will lead to a significant reduction in the number of arkebuses at all celebrations, which will lead to difficulties in complying with the Regulation.
"We believe that setting up so many obstacles and restrictions to the celebration of the feasts can lead to some of the most important events of our Feast of Moros y Cristianos disappearing in a few years time, such as the landing and the Miracle," said Ana Sala, Mayor of Calpe.