San Juan backs down and will set off fireworks for the holidays without repeating the referendum.

Saint JohnThe Sant Joan City Council will once again set off fireworks for the 2025 patron saint festivities. It will do so without repeating how it had announced the referendum it held last year, in which the citizens voted by a majority not to hold this pyrotechnic display.

The entire process was then followed by controversy, especially fueled by a sector that did not approve the results of the referendum and which was allegedly the same sector that set off fireworks from six different points in the town center on the night of August 28 without authorization or permission.

The Sant Joan City Council opened an investigation to determine responsibility, but ultimately the Sant Joan City Council's governing team (MÁS-PSOE) decided to take note and move on. Violators faced a fine of up to €1,500 each. At the September 2024 town hall meeting, San Juan Mayor Richard Thompson said that faced with the options of imposing a fine or "ignoring what happened (…), the governing team believes these options are not appropriate. We want to have a united community that respects municipal ordinances because we have them for good reasons."

A month later, the Councillor for Festivals, Joan Català, resigned for personal reasons, announcing that he was leaving the political front line due to lack of time and "for strictly personal reasons".

Before that, however, it had been announced that a referendum would be repeated for this year's festivals, a vote that ultimately did not take place and the fireworks were finally included in thethis year's program of eventson August 28th at 00:00 h.

The mayor, Richard Thompson, explained that "the decision to set off fireworks again was up to the festival committee. It was raised and decided to set off again, I can't say anything more."

When asked by this digital newspaper why the public vote on the fireworks has not been repeated as announced a year ago, Thompson explained that "we have a lot of works underway and we haven't had time to do any consultations."

In any case, he noted that for future editions, "I will be keeping a close eye on these towns like Porreres that this year are changing the fireworks for a drone show to see how they do, because it's an option that I like."

Regarding complaints from pet owners, especially those with dogs who suffer stress from fireworks, the mayor of Sant Joan points out that "now they know there will be fireworks and they can take them to other places or take measures to prevent them from suffering."