Palma City Council will have to pay 284,000 euros for suspending the San Sebastián festival

PalmPalma City Council will have to pay the full cost of the San Sebastián festival, scheduled for this Monday, January 19, despite having cancelled all official events as a sign of official mourning for the tragic event. Adamuz train accident (Cordoba). According to the City Council's administrative specifications, postponing the festival is impossible, and in the event of cancellation on the day itself, the costs must be paid in full. This represents a total outlay of €283,914, as this newspaper has learned. Canceling the activities and concerts with less than 24 hours' notice makes it completely impossible to use contractual clauses to modify the payments, so the Palma City Council will have to pay for the entire festival without holding it.

Cort has announced the cancellation of the festival as a sign of respect for the victims and their families. The canceled events include the lighting of the bonfire in the Plaza Mayor, the traditional street party, and the concerts scheduled in the Plaza de España, Plaza de Cort, Plaza Juan Carlos I, and Plaza Mayor. However, the toasters have not been removed from the squares, and anyone who wants to toast one may do so. Deputy Mayor and Councilor for Citizen Participation, Lourdes Roca, emphasized that "it was not an easy decision to make," but given the gravity of the situation, no alternative was considered other than the cancellation of all official festivities.

This is not the first time the Palma City Council (Cort) has had to bear the full costs of a canceled festival: in previous years, rain and storms forced the cancellation of some concerts and activities in San Sebastián, which the City Council still had to pay for. The City Council has also suspended the Diada Ciclista (Cycling Day) and the Ciutat de Palma awards ceremony, which were scheduled for this Tuesday. The awards ceremony will be rescheduled soon and will take place in the plenary hall. Neither the mayor, Jaime Martínez, nor the council members of the governing team will attend the celebrations at the Cathedral and the Church of San Sebastián. The City Council expressed its deepest condolences to the families of the victims and the injured, and conveyed its support to the emergency and rescue teams working to assist those affected.

Palma City Council had also asked the organizers of unofficial activities to suspend the rest of the celebrations as a "show of respect and solidarity", but they have finally decided to maintain the planned program.